The Ultimate Gamble
by Shockinblue
Summary: [Modern AU, Drabble Series] Hashirama thinks it's time Tobirama got a secretary/assistant/bodyguard/someone that will put him in his place when he needs it/someone to keep that ego in check, basically the ultimate right-hand man... and he has just the right (wo)man for the job.
1. Chapter 1

Hashirama thinks it's time Tobirama got a secretary/assistant/bodyguard/someone that will put him in his place when he needs it/someone to keep that ego in check, basically the ultimate right-hand man... and he has just the right (wo)man for the job

 **Standard disclaimer applies.**

The Ultimate Gamble

"Brother, what is the meaning of this?" Tobirama stormed into the president's office, door slamming open and closed haphazardly. The secretary outside shrunk back automatically behind her desk. Tobirama, in one word, was seething.

How dare his brother assign him a, a, a babysitter!

Hashirama pointedly ignored his younger brother for a good minute, pretending to read one of the financial reports before looking up. The look on the white-haired man's face was worth gold, but Hashirama quelled his mirth and met the look of rage with a practiced face of innocence.

Tobirama was having one of that.

He slapped a folder on top of his brother's desk, "What is the meaning of this?"

Hashirama looked at the folder before looking at his brother, "It's a folder of course."

Tobirama was going to punch him, sibling hierarchy or not.

On the inside, Hashirama was rolling in his mindscape for the laughter. Oh, how he wished this was almost a hidden camera prank.

"Aniue, explain."

Hashirama cringed, his brothers knew he hated being addressed by such a formal title. It was ridiculously archaic. They weren't exactly in the Warring States period. He looked up at his little brother (because as the eldest, he deemed it fit that all others that came after himself were little, they hated their doting older brother but he didn't care) and said, "It's a resume and profile for your right-hand man, that should be here in a few hours."

"Yes, I understood that from the post-it note on the inside, but that does not explain one, why you think I need a so called 'right-hand man', and two, why you did not bother to confer with me before you hired them!" Tobirama's voice steadily rose, not quite shouting, because he would never shout at his older brother. But Hashirama knew better, he really had outdone himself this time.

His father didn't like it when his sons fought. One of them might not be coming home tonight.

Hashirama made a show of sighing and attempted to placate his brother. He guided the other man to the couches and him sit. Hashirama was proud his managed as much. His couch was known as "the sucker couch" it was capable of sapping away all and any energy. The perfect place to put his overworked wife, difficult business people, irritable Uchiha, and lately his younger brother.

"Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do," Tobirama grumbled as he settled into the infamous couch. He wanted to be raging, breathing fire from his mouth if he could, but damn the couch made it really hard to stay mad.

"Well, as vice president of Konoha Industries, and president of the subsidiary Konoha Aerospace and Transportation, I've noticed that you've been overworked lately trying to handle everything on your own," Hashirama took a seat opposite of his brother, "So, I took it upon myself to get you the ultimate all-in-one package of a right-hand man. Someone to help you organize and stay on track."

"But I do not need a bodyguard."

"I disagree wholeheartedly little brother," Hashirama beamed, "It's a bit of reassurance for me, as your older brother, and for our father if we know that you'll be left in someone's all-encompassing capable hands. We are public figures after all, never know who might be after you, or when Izuna will strike next."

Izuna Uchiha was blessed by the prankster god, Tobirama was sure of it. Always out to get the better of Tobirama, because Izuna was president of Konoha Publishing and always sulked and pouted when his profit margin couldn't beat Tobirama's. It was childish, really. Tobirama occasionally prayed to whatever diety that was listening, that Izuna would never get the chance to meet Naruto.

"So you decided to hire someone like this?" Tobirama flipped open the folder and the first page had a photo clipped to it. A photo of a young adult in a cream-coloured business suit, a professional smile, emerald eyes, and short pink hair. "He doesn't even look like puberty's hit yet, and he's," he flipped the photo to look at the details, "over twenty!"

Hashirama chuckled, "Now, now. Looks can be deceiving. He's mastered many martial art forms at his young age, also trained in emergency first aid. Plenty of experience. He has wonderful references that sing praises! What more could you possibly ask for?"

"Maybe someone more... visually intimidating?" Tobirama struggled to find the right words.

Hashirama guffawed at that, "Tobirama, my dear younger brother, I think you do a fine job of that on your own." He reduced his laugh to a snicker. Tobirama frowned, certainly he wasn't as open in expressing himself as his older brother, but he wasn't exactly scary either, right?

Right?

"Anyways, just review the file and debrief him on your schedule. Get to know each other a little bit, and do not drive him away!" Hashirama hastily rushed his brother out the door, "I expect to hear good things!"

He slammed the door in his brother's face.

Tobirama grumbled as he made his way back to his office in the primary building. He didn't even register his brother's secretary wishing him a good day.

Hashirama listened to the footsteps retreating before leaning against his door and sighing heavily. He walked back to his desk and pulled a photo from the middle drawer in his desk. A photo of a young adult in modest summer dress and large straw hat, emerald eyes and long pink hair. She stood next to another woman, a familiar buxom blonde, his cousin, Tsunade.

He stared at the photo with familial love, "Tsuna-chan, I hope you know what you're doing."

He loved Tsunade like a sister, and as his first female cousin, he had spoiled her rotten. Doted on her like he did to his younger brothers. They had a lot in common. Like their gambling habit.

Hashirama already built his own family, and now he wanted Tobirama to find and start his own too. The man had pushed his metaphorical chips into the pool of the ultimate gamble, his brother's happiness.

x

 **Author's Corner:**

Sorry, this idea came to me suddenly before bed last night. Kept me up for a while too. Um. What can I say, I have a thing for Tobirama/Sakura. Thought I would try to do it in a more modern setting. Obviously it's very AU, and canon family relationships don't translate perfectly here. We've all seen in happen, i.e. Madara being Sasuke's uncle, etc. That kind of thing. So for that same reason and for character inclusion purposes, Tsunade is Hashirama and Tobirama's cousin, instead of granddaughter/niece.

It's going to be a drabble series (1k words more or less each chapter). I don't want to have to get too technical or detailed about stuff. I just want this to be light and funny.

And yes, Sakura is a woman, but she's working with Tobirama as a man. Why? Because canon Tobirama is archaic and canon Sakura is modern, and they are each individuals of their time. In this modern AU, Tobirama's thinking is a little traditional. If he wanted a secretary, he couldn't care less if they were male or female, but if it was someone to be his assistant, someone to stand in danger on his behalf, someone that could keep up with his schedule, Tobirama by default thinks of a man and not a woman in that job. Hashirama knows this and that's why Sakura is dressed like a guy.

And besides, writing manly Tobirama having his heart skip a beat over an effeminate man (because he is really a she) sounds like fun.

Reviews appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 02

"Are you sure this was a good idea?"

Ino moved around her best friend's room, rifling through their newest haul from the mall and sorting out the additions in the closet. Sakura sat in front of the vanity and eyed the blonde's reflection passing by as Hinata combed out her pink locks. "Well, Tsunade referred me for the job. It's a good opportunity and the salary and benefits were too good to pass up..." Sakura tried to fish for something more to placate the blond.

"But she said she cleared it with the president, Hashirama, right? Not his brother, who you will actually be working for. And why do you have to dress like a man, again?" Ino picked up business suit jackets meant for men and hung them up on the right side of the closet. She was slowly carving out a section for the men's wear.

"I'm sure they have a reason, and I really don't mind if they think of me as a man." Sakura always has been a bit of a tomboy, Ino thinks as she glances to her friend's collection of clothes. Hinata laughed softly as she gently combed out a few knots, "your awareness of genders has always been a bit lower than others. You always played with the boys in daycare. They never noticed you were a girl until 'wear your own clothes' day and your mother sent you in with a pretty yellow dress."

Sakura snorted, "Shikamaru knew all along though, that lazy bum."

Ino turned around with a proud smile, "He's lazy, but he's a genius for sure." Ino and Shikamaru have been friends since they were in diapers, they were practically siblings. Their other friend Chouji was also another self-proclaimed brother. Their parents and families have been close for eons.

Hinata set down the brush and took the proffered silver hair cuff from the pinkette. She clasped it around the base of the low ponytail and then stepped back to admire her work. The hair around her face was shorter and shaped her face nicely. With the men's clothing hiding her body shape, Sakura could easily pass for a young man. With long pink hair. Thank heavens modern society was so accepting.

"Hashirama-sama says you start tomorrow, are you ready?" Hinata asked as she sat on her friend's bed. She was the president's secretary, often overlooked for her shy personality, but Hashirama valued her greatly for her organizational skills. She also had one heck of a backbone and all those noisy people seeking his time were always easily cowed by her firm but polite tone.

"I think so, Tsunade and Hashirama debriefed me on what I would be doing, it didn't sound too hard," Sakura replied as she messed with her bangs a bit. Ino closed the doors to the closet and sat down beside Hinata, "What's your boss like anyways?"

Hinata pondered carefully before answering, "He's quite traditional, a gentleman who never forgets his manners. He tends to take on a lot of the workload, to ease Hashirama's load, but in turn overworks himself, but I have never seen him take a day off, not even a sick day. My boss has often referred to him as a robot, although I'm sure he means it in a teasing way."

"He sounds like a stiff," Ino commented. Sakura sighed, "If I can handle Sasuke's dad and brother, and Hinata's dad and Neji, the ultimate stiffs, I'm sure I can take on Tobirama. On a scale of one to Clan Heads, I'm pretty sure he's a six at best."

Having settled on a hairstyle for the next day, she removed the silver hair cuff and got up from her seat. "Come on ladies, we're meeting up with TenTen for dinner," she opened the door and ushered them all downstairs. When they landed on the main floor, Tsunade poked her head out from the kitchen, "Girls night out?" she asked.

Hinata shook her head, "No, just a dinner nearby." Ino nodded, "Can't exactly get wild and trashed when Sakura's starting her new job tomorrow."

Not that they ever got wild or trashed. It wasn't their style, really.

Tsunade hummed, "All right then, Jiraiya's coming over later to go over his manuscript, Sakura can you please bring back some take out?" Sakura responded to the request and the girls went on their way.

Tsunade was ten years older than Sakura. When her parents passed away, Naruto's parents took her in and officially adopted her. Jiraiya was Naruto's godfather, and she had met Tsunade through the older man. They bonded like siblings, and Tsunade had always wanted a little sister to dote on. Nawaki could only handle so much love from the woman, and he was her little brother by blood.

When Sakura reflects on her life up until now, she realizes that she owes a lot of her growth to the woman. Tsunade was like her godmother, she taught Sakura a lot of life lessons and practical lessons. She hoped to make the woman proud by working hard at her next workplace.

After dinner she had returned to her home with the promised take out. She greeted Jiraiya and bid them good night before retiring to her room. As she prepared to go to bed, she pulled out a simple folder from Hashirama. In it contained a photo of her new boss and a couple of pages of information on the man. It was all hand written by Hashirama, as he wanted believe a computer-pulled report wouldn't do his brother justice.

She glanced through the pages and slowly found herself smiling as the sloppy writing detailed Tobirama's likes, dislikes, goals and hobbies. She could tell Hashirama really loved his little brother.

Her eyes moved to the business suit hung up over her closet door, the outfit she would don starting tomorrow. She excelled at everything she put her mind to, and this would be no different. Soon she fell into a dreamless sleep, eager for the morning to come.

x

 **Author's Corner:**

Why am I here? I should be over at Stay Human. I small part of me is avoiding it. I had another idea and I've already started writing the first chapter for _that_. And it's a bloody Time Travel AU, that one. The trope is overused but really awesome for extremely self-indulgent folks, like me.

This fic in particular though it meant be light. Very, very light. It heals my heart a little when I think about Tobirama and Sakura being in the same space together.

Adult-ing is stressful, kay?

Peace out!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 03

Tobirama sat at his desk, responding to the emails on his computer. It never seemed to end; every time he replied to one and he was brought back to the inbox screen, two more joined the queue. He sighed heavily put continued to push on, his frame leaning closer to the desk.

He glanced furtively at the clock on the screen. His new right-hand man would not be here for another half hour, but if he expected the newbie to impress, he would be here within the next fifteen minutes.

He continued to respond to emails to ease his anxiety.

He wasn't Hashirama. He wasn't prepared for the responsibility of another person in his care. He was a lone wolf. He had siblings and cousins, yes, but in a work capacity, he worked best by himself.

His ears caught the sound of a door opening and closing, down the hall beyond his own office door. He glanced at the clock, fifteen minutes early like he had assumed. He listened to the two sets of footsteps approach his door and then a double knock. "Enter," he said loud enough to carry through the door. It opened with sure movement and Hinata poked her head through the door, "Sir, the new hire is here." He waved them in.

She opened the door fully and stepped in, holding it open for the new hire to walk through. Tobirama stood and as they walked towards each other, he took that time to assess his new retainer. He grimaced in his mind, he was a little old to have a retainer hovering over his shoulders.

He noted that the young man looked exactly like the photo provided, except he had long pink hair in a ponytail and not short fringe cut like he had first assumed. He was also a lot shorter than Tobirama expected. The man didn't have the right to criticize though, he had white hair, red eyes, and was a measly 5'9", only six inches taller than the new hire. Not everybody could be six foot giants like Hashirama.

Whoever said younger siblings end up taller than the oldest sibling lied.

He walked up the young man and extended his hand, "My name is Tobirama, we'll be working closely from now on." He tried to keep his face blank when the young man grasped his hand. The hand was small and soft, well-kept nails, but he had a firm strength to his handshake. Not too weak, and not too strong, clearly the new hire had experiencing shaking hands.

"It's an honour to meet you, sir. My name is Haruno Sakuya, I hope I can be of service to you," the young man said smoothly. Tobirama let go of the handshake and returned his hand to his side. His palms were _not_ sweating. _At all_. He nodded his head at Hashirama's secretary and she excused herself politely after wishing the young man good luck.

Tobirama gestured towards the seating area and they sat opposite of each other. He was pleased that the young man had manners, he didn't sit until Tobirama sat first. "Now then," Tobirama pulled the boxed package on the table towards himself and opened it. He pulled out all the electronics including a cellphone, a tablet, and a bluetooth headset. He also pulled out a few thin binders and a black calendar and agenda. He laid out the items before the young man before explaining their purpose, "These electronics are for you to use at work. They have been set up to sync with the company's servers and most of the services have my accounts signed into them. Including my e-mail, calendars, and messages on the tablet. This is so that you can schedule my days and prescreen the e-mails and messages from other departments in the building as well as our business partners.

"You have also been given your own work e-mail account which you will set up on the cellphone provided to you. This is so that you and I can communicate when we are apart, and so that other employees can reach you. If Hashirama calls you, feel free to ignore the first call. If he calls you the second time, be sure to pick up because that means he actually needs for you something and he's not just avoiding his work.

"This binder here details company policy, the second binder is a copy of your employee contract and the benefits you are entitled to as an employee of Konoha Industries. The third is a directory of your departments, the heads of each department, as well as our subsidiaries and business partners and their contact information.

"And finally, this agenda is for you to record the schedule manually, in case the electronics malfunction. The electronics themselves are set to back-up every night or so, but we must not rely solely on technology.

"Any questions so far?" Tobirama looked up and the young man shook his head and replied, "No, sir." Tobirama frowned, "You can just call me Tobirama." Sakuya sputtered, "But!"

Tobirama waved him down, "It will be confusing if you call me Senju, because that's what you would also call my brothers. And if you tack on a Mister to my name, I would feel incredibly old. Just Tobirama will do, I can't be more than ten years older than you anyways."

Sakuya nodded, not used to such blunt directives. His boss stood and motioned for Sakuya to follow him out the door. On the other side was another office-sized room. "This was originally intended to be the secretary's office. But as you can see, I do not have one," Tobirama glanced at the shorter man, "Until now anyways. The desk and storage units are yours to use as you see fit. The three doors on the opposite side lead to a storage room for files, utilities closet and private washroom respectively."

"Take some time to set up your desk and familiarize yourself with the devices. My schedule for the day is already loaded on to the tablet. My next appointment is a meeting with Nara from Marketing, until then," he nodded at his assistant and returned to the sanctuary of his own office.

x

 **Author's Corner:** One chapter in Tobirama's view, and the next in Sakura's. That's probably going to be the pattern.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 04

Sakura heaved a sigh of relief when the door behind Tobirama closed. She hadn't been discovered right off the bat. So far so good, but she was still going to tread lightly and remain professional.

She moved over to the empty desk and set down her work-bag, and the box of new work items. She pulled out her laptop and set it up, plugging in the charger cable and connecting it to the private WiFi of the higher ups. She set up her devices to sync all the information across platforms and then looked through her boss's schedule.

She familiarized herself with the company handbook and started memorizing the directories. When it was fifteen minutes before his appointment with Nara from Marketing, she got up swiftly and knocked on his office door before entering. "Tobirama-sama," she addressed her boss with a polite smile, "Nara-san will be here in fifteen minutes, would you like me to prepare refreshments and pull out necessary files from the storage room?"

Tobirama looked up briefly before returning to the paper in his hands, "Yes, please. There's a budget report and first quarter surveys in the storage room related to Konoha Industries, Konoha Condominiums, and Konoha Estates, please prepare them."

Sakura bowed politely at the waist before leaving just as quietly as she had entered. She opened the utilities closet door and pulled out a coffee maker, still in its box and set it up in the corner of her office room. She went to the elevator and took it down to one of the middle levels where she remembered there being a cafeteria.

She picked up some croissants, a few bowls of fruit, yogurt, tea packets, and asked one of the staff for some coffee grounds. She explained her situation and the man behind the serving table was more than happy to give her a new can of coffee from Suna. Said it was what the head honchos preferred. She thanked him kindly before swiping her card at the register and returning to the top floor.

She boiled hot water and prepared some clean mugs. She also prepared coffee in case either man preferred an alternative. She wasn't entirely sure which Nara, specifically, the meeting would be held with, but based on her knowledge, they were more tea people than coffee people. But she wasn't sure about her boss. Time to rectify that problem.

She set up a tray with refreshments and knocked on the door once before entering. She set the tray down on the coffee table in the center of the armchairs and looked at her boss, "Tobirama-sama, Nara-san will be here in momentarily, could you like coffee or tea, and how would you like it?"

Tobirama looked up again, he wasn't used to being asked these questions. He had to think for a moment before answering, "Hojicha or Kukicha would be acceptable." His assistant nodded before leaving the room again. A minute later there was another knock at the door, heavier than his assistant's. He called for the person to enter and in walked Nara Shikaku, the head of Marketing.

They greeted each other as Tobirama stood and moved to the arm chairs. Nara took a seat opposite of the man and held out the folder that was previously under his arm. He set it down on the table just as another softer knock sounded on the door.

The door opened at Sakura entered with a tray of steaming hot mugs of tea. She bowed politely without really looking at the other person, before walking around behind the Nara and setting down the coasters followed by the mugs of tea. When she raised into a standing position and her eyes locked with the Nara's, both sets widened in surprise.

Just her luck to run into a father of Twelve. She inwardly cursed her fortune. Then again, everybody she knew in her age group worked for Konoha Industries in one capacity or another, why would it be strange if their parents happened to work at the parent company. She bowed again politely introducing herself before one of her father figures could speak, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Nara-san, I am Haruno Sakuya and will be working as Tobirama-sama's assistant starting today."

She sent the man a slight pleading look when she noticed his jaw was still slack. But she could see the gears turning in his head. The look in his eyes promised an interrogation either for herself or Shikamaru the next time they met. But for now the man settled for regaining his composure and returning a polite bow with his head.

Relieved internally that she narrowly avoided another dangerous situation, she moved to the armchair beside Tobirama and set down the files he had asked for. She placed notepad on her lap and poised to take notes on this meeting.

The men began their meeting taking occasional breaks to drink their tea and snack on the refreshments. Sakura made sure to use insulated cups and brought a thermos with hot water to keep their drinks topped up. The discussion went back and forth between the various budgets and strategies for the subsidiary companies and Sakura continued to take notes, paying utmost attention to important details and figures presented.

An hour later, the meeting finally ended and she escorted Shikaku to the elevator. As he waited for the lift to arrive he turned to Sakura and eyed her transformation, "Should I even ask?" he said gruffly, used to seeing her in more masculine clothing but never for the sake of work.

Sakura sighed heavily, "You probably don't Shikaku-san, all I can say is this was Hashirama-sama and Tsunade-sama's idea." Shikaku raised a brow and didn't pry any further. Those names were enough to answer most of the questions in his mind. When the elevator opened, he patted her head fondly before entering and returning to his own floor.

She returned to Tobirama's office and cleaned up the files and refreshments. She looked up when Tobirama's cellphone rang and he took the call. He swivelled around in his chair to look out the windows. When he finished his call he turned back and got her attention, "Haruno-san, please book an appointment with Restaurant Hanae for a table of six. It is a business dinner with the directors of Konoha Hospital and Kaguya Labs and their secretaries. You will also be attending."

Sakura nodded before leaving the room to do as instructed. She never thought her new job position would be a walk in the park, but she also didn't think she would run into so many acquaintances on the first day.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 05

Tobirama pulled up to the restaurant entrance in his car, Sakuya in the seat beside him. They got out and he handed his keys to the concierge. They walked up the pathway to the entrance and Sakuya opened the door for his boss. Tobirama stepped through the threshold first and was greeted by the hostess.

Out of their party of six, they were the first to arrive. The hostess guided them to the Peach Room, and politely excused herself after they had been seated. A minute after she left, waitresses returned with mugs and a pot of hot tea. The slid open a second time to reveal the rest of their guests. Tobirama got up from his seat and greeted them.

Sakuya stood as well and exchanged introductions with the newcomers. Eventually they all seated themselves, three one each side. Sakuya sat between Tobirama and the hospital director's secretary, Shizune.

Tobirama caught the attention of the man sitting across from him, "Hamura-san, it is nice to meet you at last in person. Tsunade, here, has nothing but praises for your work in bone cancer research." The other man flushed under the attention, "Thank you, Tobirama-san, I have only managed to come so far with the help of my wonderful staff, and our partnership with Konoha Hospital."

The discussion remained light with interested topics in medical research being discussed until the hostess returned with waitresses in tow, carrying the appetizer dish and bottles of sake. At the sight of the rich alcohol, Tsunade positively glowed. Shizune was quick to pour her boss a cup after the wait staff excused themselves. Tobirama watched as his cousin blatantly down two cups before motioning for a third.

He was tempted to sigh, his younger cousin picked up Hashirama's gambling habit, but this drinking habit certainly didn't come from Hashirama or himself. Perhaps their fathers were at fault. Tobirama was never into drinking.

Tsunade looked up when she felt his gaze, "Oh, lighten up, Tobirama. You're such a stiff! Saku-Sakuya was it? Pour your boss a glass why don't you? He certainly looks like he could use it." Hamura watched with mild amusement as the buxom blonde shoved a bottle and cup at the man across from him. The assistant eyed the drink like it offended him before he resigned himself to pour a cup for his superior.

Tobirama was looking at the alcohol with just as much disdain. Not because he didn't like the taste of the drink, but because when Tsunade was involved, he knew how the situation ended. And it wasn't going to be pretty.

He picked up the glass and took a slow sip, but of course that wouldn't be enough to appease his cousin. She goaded him into downing the entire cup and somehow teased his assistant into pouring him a second cup. And a third.

Dishes continued to be served and important business discussions managed to keep him coherent, but he could definitely fill the edges of his mind becoming foggy. By the end of dinner, it had basically turned into the drinking game between the three bosses as their assistants watched over them. Shizune had a little to drink, and so did Hamura's assistant Kimimaro. But Sakuya remained sober, having only tea. Tsunade ordered more alcohol and two different sizes of glasses. She filled the bigger one with alcohol, and place the small shot glass inside. She lifted another bottle of sake and placed it beside the two cups.

"I learned this game from a traveling patient, whoever fills this shot glass and causes it to sink, has to drink the entire thing. You first Tobirama," Tsunade smirked deviously. Out of the three of them, she knew she had the best alcohol tolerance.

The games proceeded in this manner and eventually Hamura had to throw in the proverbial towel. They had an early meeting in the town over the next day, and Kimimaro insisted that they call it a night, lest his boss suffered the meeting with a raging hangover. They were the first to leave.

Tsunade and Tobirama continued their games, because he was competitive like that and hated to lose. It was childish, but the inebriation made it hard to care. It continued until Tobirama could no longer hold on to the bottle. His grip slacked and he slumped over on top of the table, mumbling incoherently.

Having secured her victory, Tsunade smiled as she leaned back and pulled a small bottle of blue liquid. She drank it swiftly and within minutes it was like she had never consumed alcohol at all. She smiled like the cheshire cat and sent Shizune out to take care of the bill. When her assistant excused herself, she turned to the pink-haired assistant.

"It looks like you'll have to take him home tonight, Sakuya-chan. I'll tell you his address. See to it that he's comfortable and taken care of will you? I'm sure you'll manage just fine given your experience in caring for drunks," _like me_ , she tacked on mentally as she patted Tobirama's hair.

Sakuya nodded and addressed his boss when Shizune returned, "Tobirama-sama, it's time to go. Can you stand?" He received no reply. Sighing, Sakuya lifted her boss's arm over his shoulder and hauled him up with little effort. Wrapping an arm around his waist, the pink-haired assistant began to walk out with the drunk man. Shizune helpfully held the doors open and waited with Tsunade until the other two were in their car.

She watched as the smaller man lowered his boss into the passenger seat and strapped him in, putting an open plastic bag in his hands. Sakuya closed the door and bowed politely to dismiss the concierge before turning to the two women. When he heard the concierge walk out of range, he gave the two women a very disgruntled look.

"Really, Tsunade? Drinking your cousin under the table? Did you know this would happen?" Sakuya said in his natural, feminine voice. Because Sakuya is technically a girl.

Tsunade scoffed before chuckling, "I saw an opportunity and I seized it Sakura. Take it as an opening to show Tobirama you are more than capable to take care of him when he pushes himself too far. Besides, anything he does from this point on until he's sober again will make excellent blackmail," Sakura glared, "uh, leverage, for sure."

Sakura bid the women good night before getting behind the wheel and driving to the address Tsunade provided. Sakura, back in Sakuya persona, sneaked a glance at Tobirama. It was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 06

Sakura pulled into driveway of the address given by Tsunade. She placed the car in park before killing the engine. The lights in the car turned on automatically and she slid her glance over to her boss in the passenger seat, completely passed out. Sighing for the umpteenth time, she removed her seatbelt and exited the car. She walked over to the passenger side and opened the door with a little more force than necessary.

Oh, how wonderful it must be to be dead asleep in the late hours of the evening.

She leaned in and over to remove her boss's seatbelt. Now that her boss was deadweight, she wasn't entirely sure how to get him out of the car. Tobirama huffed in his sleep and turned his head, Sakura held her breath. Drunk breath was nasty in general, no matter who's mouth it came from.

"Sir," she patted his cheek and was happy to see him stir. "Sir, we're outside your home, we need to get you inside. I need you to try and stand so we can get you out of the car," she spoke easily while moving his feet to the ground. Tobirama's eyes opened a little and he grunted as he tried to exit the car with help from Sakura.

Once he was out and leaning on her to stay upright, she closed the car door and locked the vehicle. She took her boss along with her as she trudged up the steps to the front door. Finding the right key took a moment but eventually she was inside. She closed the front door and locked it before setting Tobirama down gently at the front entrance. She even leaned him against the wall in hopes he would remain sitting up.

She carefully took off his shoes and his jacket, hanging that up on the coat rack. She left his bag at the foot of the stairs. She looked back at her boss, his back hunched over as he was falling asleep again, and debated how best to get him upstairs. She really hated Tsunade right about now. She tossed her hands up in the air, giving up on her luck before walking back over to her boss. She quickly went upstairs and checked the rooms, and left one bedroom door opened. It looked used, so hopefully it was her boss's. She quickly made her way back down to the man and checked his breathing. Still asleep.

Fireman carry was out of the question, so princess carry it was.

She lifted her boss in her arms like he weighed nothing and carried him up to his room, carefully depositing him on the bed. She turned on the bedside lamp and was glad to note his response of a grimace before he swung an arm up to cover his face.

Let him stay in his work clothes and catch some z's, or be the stellar right-hand man and get him in his pajamas...

Sakura exhaled quickly and turned towards the double doors she assumed would be the closet. She opened it and was a little surprised to find a whole 'nother room dedicated to the man's clothes and accessories. She walked in and left the door slightly ajar, before turning on the lights. She looked around until she spotted a pair of sweats and a well-worn t-shirt. Finding the clothes acceptable, she returned to the bedroom and shook her boss's shoulder.

"Sir, you need to change out of those clothes before bed," she said as she lifted the man into a sitting position. His eyes opened again and she repeated herself, shoving the clothes into his hands. He seemed to get the point because he lifted his hips off the bed and decided pants first.

Sakura quickly turned around to give the man some privacy. She iron-willed the heat off her face as she waited. When movement ceased and she heard no more sounds, she chanced a peak behind her before turning fully to find that he had only managed to put on the sweats. His work shirt was opened, but he had flopped back over on the bed.

She rolled her eyes before sitting him up again and removing his work shirt before easing the t-shirt over him. When he was properly clothed, she moved him back onto the bed and arranged him in the recovery position. She took his discarded clothes into the next door, luckily the bathroom, and placed them in the hamper.

She took a glass and filled it with tap water before returning to the bedroom. She pulled over the small trash can, lined with a plastic bag and set the items near him in preparation for the worst. She looked him over and found no signs of alcohol poisoning. She settled on the floor and leaned on the bed, damn, it was a comfy bed.

She gave Tobirama's face a closer examination, now that she was capable of doing so without criticism. He was certainly in the category of "roguishly handsome". But as he was her boss, and she was dressing as a man, their relationship would be nothing but professional. And Sakura wouldn't have it any other way.

A yawn ripped from her mouth and she felt it all the way down to her core. Reminding herself that her boss was indeed still drunk, she fell into a light sleep, ready for what might come.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 07

The alarm beside his head sounded and was instantly shut off, but not by his hand. His eyes were dry and they felt crusted over. He tried to open his eyes slowly and carefully but the sliver of light had him shutting them again just as quickly.

God, his head hurt.

He gave it a few minutes before trying again, this time making sure he wasn't facing the window. He slowly opened one eye and then the other. His version was blurry, and it took a few moments before a blob of pink was noticeable. A few more blinks and his vision sharpened the pink blob to a familiar young man, with his head and arms on Tobirama's mattress.

Yesterday's memories came rushing back to him, abruptly ending the drinking game with Tsunade. He winced, damn his mind and memory skills. What had he been thinking when he accepted that challenge.

Definitely not a side of himself he wanted to show his new hire, on their first day on the job.

He patted the younger man on the back and Sakuya awoke instantly. He raised his head to look at Tobirama before saying quietly, "Good morning, sir." He got up and filled a glass with water before handing it to the older man, "Please drink this, the medicine will have to wait until after you've eaten."

Tobirama accepted the glass and slowly drained its contents. Feeling slightly better he pulled back the covers as he got up and realized that his clothes were different. He looked up at his new assistant, "Did you..." He didn't finish the question, the pink ears and cheeks matching his assistant's face seemed extremely assuming at that moment.

"N-no!" his assistant stammered before clearing his throat, "No sir, you changed on your own last night." Damn it, Tobirama lost potential blackmail material just like that. Not that he was sure why he wanted blackmail material to begin with. Sakuya moved over to the closet and pulled out a fresh change of clothes for the day and left them on the bathroom sink for his boss.

The front door bell sounded throughout the house. Tobirama grimaced, "Most likely my brother." Sakuya nodded, "I will answer and prepare breakfast for you, sir." He removed himself from Tobirama's room to attend to their guest waiting outside.

Tobirama made his way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He got into the shower, cranking the water as hot as he could handle it. Hot showers were the best. It eased the tension in his shoulders and really woke him up. After what felt like a lifetime, he finally got out of the shower and dressed himself and brushed his teeth. He was glad he didn't vomit last night, that would have really sucked.

As he exited the bathroom towelling his hair, the smell of fish and the sound of laughter came from below. He left his room and made his way down the stairs. Soon he found the source of all the commotion. He walked into the open room to see his younger brothers seated on one side of the kitchen island, his assistant cooking away on the other side.

His brothers were chattering away as usual and Sakuya would throw in the occasional jibe that sent his brothers laughing. Tobirama was glad his assistant could handle his younger brothers so well.

"Tobirama-nii! There you are! We were beginning to wonder if we walked into the wrong house," Itama greeted his older brother. "Or if you sold it and left without telling us," Kawarama added his two cents as he greeted the older man.

"As you can see, I still live here," Tobirama stated bluntly as he crossed the threshold and picked up an empty mug from the counter. He was pleased to find that Sakuya had started the coffee and brought out juice and milk. He decided to start with the orange juice. He sat in the remaining available seat between his brothers, and watched his assistant cook.

Soon Sakuya plated the smaller side dishes and filled three bowls with rice before placing them in front of the brothers. Then he plated the grilled fish and placed that on their side of the island as well. "It's not much, but please enjoy," Sakuya motioned for them to start eating as he turned around to fill three bowls with soup.

The brothers gave their thanks before digging in. Tobirama was pleased that the food wasn't too heavily seasoned. Just right for his palette. Even the rice was perfect, light and fluffy. He couldn't get cooked rice to look this good if he tried. And he's tried.

Instead of setting up a spot for himself, Sakuya put down their bowls of soup and excused himself, reaching down for a bag Tobirama hadn't noticed before, and returning upstairs to use the bathroom.

When he heard the door close upstairs, Kawarama was the first to speak, his mouth still full with rice, "Hey bro, where'd you find him?" Tobirama reprimanded the youngest for his lack of manners despite being in his twenties.

"I didn't find him. Hashirama did, hired the guy as my new... 'right-hand man' as he so aptly described it," Tobirama said between mouthfuls of grilled fish. Damn this fish was good too.

"That explains why Hashirama gave him that bag and then left. He came with us but couldn't stick around, he promised Mito-nee breakfast together," Itama explained. Tobirama mused, the bag must have been a change of clothes then or something. And his assumption was correct when he heard movements upstairs and Sakuya reappeared in a different business suit, his hair untied and still a little damp from his quick shower.

"I'm sorry I borrowed your shower without asking first, Tobirama-sama," Sakuya apologized with a bow.

"No worries, it's the least I could offer you after you had to spend the night in an uncomfortable position. Think nothing of it," Tobirama averted his eyes and focussed his eyes on his food. Because Sakuya with his hair down and framing his face made him look too much like a woman and the reaction it caused in Tobirama's brain was confusing as hell. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 08

Sakura sighed for the umpteenth time in the private washroom of Tobirama's office quarters. She examined her reflection again and frowned. This morning had been a close shave, so to speak.

She had not been expecting any of the Senju brothers to knock on her boss's door. And apparently this was a common occurrence. Not surprising though, given that only Hashirama out of the bunch was married, the other three single. And handsome.

She sighed again.

They also enjoyed her cooking. She was relieved the breakfast she set up was to their taste. Clearly, Senju men preferred traditional breakfasts opposed to Western-style. Or maybe it was just Tobirama. He had even asked for second helpings of rice and soup. He even looked like he wanted another grilled fish. That look on his face as he savoured the fish... ugh, Sakura would never be able to erase that image from her mind.

The man looked like he was in Heaven.

She wasn't sure if it was her cooking or the fish, but she was happy either way. She slapped her cheeks and watched her reflection procure a decent, professional smile before she exited the bathroom.

She had taken the liberty of pushing back all of his appointments for the morning and rescheduling the afternoon ones for later this week. Which earned her some approval from the stoic man. She pulled out her handy pocket watch and checked the time. It was almost time for Tobirama's last appointment of the day.

She knocked on her boss's door before entering, storing her pocket watch and pulling out the tablet. "Tobirama-sama, we need to leave in five minutes to get to the warehouse on time. I've already sent instructions to have the car ready, is there anything you need before we head out?" she waited patiently as he finished his task.

Tobirama looked up from the screen at his assistant, "A coffee and sandwich to go from the cafeteria on the 15th floor, please."

Sakura opened the order screen on her tablet and for the heck of it asked, "Black, no sugar. Fried cod burger, less tartar sauce, sir?" Tobirama looked mildly impressed before agreeing. Sakura placed the order and bowed politely, "I will pick up your lunch order and meet you downstairs in five minutes sir." He made a small noise of acknowledgment which Sakura took as a dismissal.

She packed away the necessary files in her briefcase and made her way downstairs to pick up his order. Chouji smiled and waved at her from the kitchen window. Sakura grinned and waved back, thanking Ayame at the counter for the order.

Yeah, basically everybody she knew worked in Konoha. It was almost ridiculous.

She made it to the parking lot before her boss did and had the door open and ready for him to slide in when he arrived. They belted themselves in and the driver took off to their last appointment.

Tobirama was scheduled to check out a new warehouse facility on the east side of town before it officially opened. A minor job to be done on Hashirama's behalf. While Tobirama quietly ate his lunch, Sakura continued to reply to all the emails in both their inboxes, occasionally interrupting his meal to ask for his final decision on certain matters.

They were just pulling up to the warehouse as she finished and sent off the last email. Tobirama glanced at her screen, he was impressed. Very few could accomplish emptying the entire inbox in one car ride halfway across the city.

When the car rolled to a stop, they exited, and Sakura thanked the driver who merely nodded back. They walked up to the giant building, and Tobirama looked pleased by its outward appearance at the very least. They entered through one of the side doors and began to quietly walk through the ground floor. Tobirama took his time examining the equipment and layout of the facility.

She followed quietly behind him, taking the chance to look around as well before her gaze landed on his back. She had to remain professional and in her Sakuya persona, but she couldn't help but stare at the man's back profile. His broad shoulders was what held her interest. She had learned a lot in the past when she worked at her friend's gym. She could tell what people's bodies were capable of just by looking at them.

They arrived at the end of their little tour in one of the large rooms, still void of equipment and furnishings. Perhaps the storage area for inventory. She peered around the room and up noting the exits and the mezzanine in one corner.

"Everything looks good. Sakuya, notify Hashirama and the Warehouse co-ordinator of my approval of the location so that they can finish setting up," Tobirama instructed as he turned to leave. "Yes sir," she responded as she pulled out her tablet. She unlocked the screen to access the mail application when her tablet flickered and died. "W-what the?" she stuttered as she poked at the screen, then the main button before trying to reboot the tablet.

"Is something wrong?" Tobirama looked back at his assistant. "Nothing to worry about," Sakura responded as she gave up on the tablet and pulled out her company smart phone instead. It was dead as well. "How can this be? They were fully charged minutes ago!" she was really confused before she calmed herself. It's not like this couldn't wait until they got back to the office. But it was weird that none of her tech was working.

Suddenly the door behind them slammed shut and multiple bolt locks could be heard clicking into place. Growing increasing alarmed, she stored all her tech and rushed to Tobirama's side, preparing herself for the worst case scenario. Apparently her boss had a similar idea in mind. They stilled themselves and listened, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness.

They heard multiple sets of feet move across the floor and the mezzanine. Tobirama and Sakura turned their backs to each other, arms up and ready. "I trust you can look after yourself?" he asked, already knowing the slimmer man was capable of doing so. Sakura muttered a confirmation before telling her boss to be careful.

And without any warning whatsoever, the culprits rushed as one.

x

 **Author's Note:**

Dun dun dun. Why do these two keep landing themselves in sticky situations? Because my self-indulgence desires it so. Thought I'd get this in. Sorry for the long wait.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

From what Tobirama could pick up, there were eight different pairs of feet on the ground floor alone. When three of them advanced on him, it didn't take him long to take them down and knock them on their backs. It also didn't take him long to realize just how muscular these mystery men were. When his eyes adjusted to the dark, he could tell how built they were, they were bigger than his assistant, that was for sure.

In the back of his mind, he worried but he had to believe that all the awards and training on paper meant something. He continued to defend himself, and was slightly surprised they had yet to pull a weapon. He heard a fierce war cry from somewhere behind him and everyone paused to look behind the Senju. One of the assailants that must have gone after Sakuya sailed over the Senju's head after having been, quite literally, thrown across the room.

The enemy's stunned by the act almost stopped attacking and watched in horror as the petite pink-haired man sped into their personal space and jabbed them at their pressure points making them drop to the floor like flies. The ones that didn't initially charge the pair began to back off but Sakuya was determined to get them all. Tobirama knocked out one in front of him and watched with wide eyes as Sakuya took care of the rest.

Then everything fell silent except for the slim man's breathing and footsteps as he walked back to his boss. "Are you okay, Tobirama-sama?" the young man asked, trying in vain to assess Tobirama's state in the dark. "I'm fine, and yourself?" Tobirama felt a need to settle the worry in his mind. He could see Sakuya smile with his usual cheer, "I'm fine as well. A little sore though, as I haven't had a workout like that in quite some time."

Tobirama raised an eyebrow, his right-hand man was certainly becoming a mystery in his own right.

Someone cranked the breaker and the lights flooded the room. The pair winced and shielded their eyes from the sudden change. They heard movement up on the mezzanine.

"Dang it Tobirama!" a male voice shouted from up top. The white-haired man sighed long-sufferingly. He knew that voice, unfortunately.

Izuna appeared at the top, gripping the railing in frustration, "I can't believe you won again!"

Sakuya blinked, trying to figure out what was going on. What was Uchiha Izuna doing here?

Tobirama levelled a look at the other man, "Another one of your pranks, Izuna. But you should know better than to involve innocent bystanders," he gestured to his assistant behind him.

The Uchiha blinked owlishly, suddenly registering the fact that there was somebody else standing in the room that wasn't one of his hired men. Appropriately horrified, he shouted, "You cheated! You had help!" Tobirama sighed heavily again. Madara's brother was a total idiot.

Tobirama turned to face Sakuya, completely dismissing the Uchiha, "Sakuya, avoid this man in the future, he will bring you nothing but trouble." Sakuya nodded numbly before looking up at the other man. He could practically see the steam coming off the Uchiha's head.

Izuna ran down the steps and hastily walked up to the duo, "It's not over yet!" he claimed. Tobirama merely watched as Izuna advanced on them. Sakuya, perceiving a potential attack, shifted in front of his boss and caught the Uchiha's outstretched arm, proceeding the jab along his arm and then his torso and finally the side of his neck. Izuna stunned, could do nothing but fall over, unable to move anything from the neck down. It took him a moment to process what had happened before he started to panic, "Oh... oh my goodness. What kind of monster did you hire, Tobi! This.. this isn't permanent is it!?"

The pair watched the Uchiha panic from the neck up and Tobirama huffed out a laugh. Sakuya whipped her head to examine his boss, like he had never heard the man laugh before. Izuna continued to wail on the ground, "You think this is so funny don't you? Let's see how you react when you can't do anything but move your head. Boy, you better be able to fix this! I will not accept being a paraplegic for life! Madara will not let me live this down!"

This time it was Sakuya's turn to sigh and Tobirama caught the younger man rolling his eyes. The pink-haired man looked at Izuna with slight disdain, "I can undo the block, but you have to promise to be civil. And not attack us anymore."

Izuna was really tempted to sneer, "I wasn't planning to, boy, now fix me!" Sakuya reached down and jabbed Izuna's neck again eliciting a cry which abruptly cut off when he realized he could move again. He quickly got up off the floor and dusted off his clothes and cleared his throat. Just before he could renew his tirade, his cellphone rang.

Tobirama and Sakuya shared a look before patiently waiting for Izuna to answer his phone. Flushing at the attention, Izuna pulled his phone from his pocket and winced when he saw the caller ID. He glanced back and forth between the pair and his phone, trying to determine the worse of two evils.

Before the call could disconnect, he swiped to the right and chose to answer it. He gulped and prepared himself for the worst.

x

 **Author's Note:** Two updates in one day? I'm trying to prolong building this IKEA wardrobe for a little bit. I don't know how to write Izuna, so he's got this one-sided rivalry with Tobirama. I should build the wardrobe now.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Uncle!" a very familiar voice shouted through the phone speaker piece. And it wasn't even on speaker. Izuna jumped and fumbled with the phone, accidentally hitting the speaker button. The other voice on the line continued, "Where have you taken my men!?"

Sakura looked around as everything began making sense. She watched as the eight men littered around the room slowly began to get up, rubbing at their aches and pulling off their masks. She recognized some of these people instantly. No wonder their moves looked so familiar.

Her eyes zeroed in on Izuna's phone as the man on the other line continued to berate his uncle, "You better not be doing something stupid again like your pranks on Senju-san!" Izuna flinched at the words and then grouched when he saw Tobirama's smirk.

"Actually, he is, Sasuke-kun," Tobirama called out loud enough to be heard. The speaker on the other line was quiet for a moment. Sakura was sure her best friend was fuming and possible foaming at the mouth. She counted to three before the younger Uchiha started berating Izuna again.

"Uncle! My stage actors are not for you to employ for such purposes! Although it's better than hiring actual thugs! But that's not the point!" Sasuke was beyond pissed and by the sounds of it, this wasn't the first time, "And you lot!" he said loud enough for his stage actors to hear, "Just because he's my uncle and he pays well does not mean you follow along with his stupid plans! Again! You're all cleaning the studio this time. With toothbrushes!"

The eight men collectively groaned at the punishment and Sasuke heard it loud and clear because he responded to their whining, "If you have a problem, I'll send you out to Gai and Lee's!"

The eight men stood ramrod straight and shouted collectively, "No sir!"

Sasuke sucked his teeth, completely unimpressed by their obvious reaction. "Get to it then," he addressed them before talking to Izuna again, "Uncle, I will tell Madara-oji and Father about this. Next time," he paused as if considering something more horrifying, "I will tell Mother."

Oh yeah, that was much worse. Right up there with Kushina-san.

Izuna gasped, appropriately horrified before hanging his head in shame, "Nephew!" he pleaded as the boy ignored the cry and ended the call.

Sakura took a moment to absorb the situation. She glanced at her boss, "Is he broken?" Tobirama gave an amused grunt for her efforts and crossed his arms, "Give him a moment to recover."

Izuna pocketed his cellphone and turned towards them again. He suddenly rose to his full height and got up close to the pair, "Don't think this means I'm giving up!" He pointed at Tobirama accusingly, "I will get the better of you one day! You can't keep winning forever!"

The Senju merely glanced at the pinkette beside him, "You can keep trying, but you're just going to have to try harder from now on." Izuna stomped his foot and rushed over the Sakura, getting in her face. She flinched and resisted the urge to lean back. Izuna glared at her and examined her face. "Where have I seen you before..." he muttered to himself, pink hair wasn't exactly a common feature. Shae made the mistake of blinking because he looked into her eyes and something clicked in his mind. He gasped, "I remember now!" He reeled back and looked her up and down, "But you were definitely!"

He looked between Tobirama and her and exclaimed, "Unless!" Tobirama's eyebrows pinched together, the idiot was making less sense by the second.

Izuna stepped back with a skip before giving the pair a cheshire grin. Tobirama didn't like it. Didn't like that Izuna knew something that he didn't. Something about his assistant that the Senju was not privy to.

Izuna caught the look on Tobirama's face and definitely saw something in the Senju's eyes and it made his little discovery all the more rewarding. "Oh, I'll definitely have to hear about this from Mada-nii later," his smile persisted. He turned away and promised to send the eight men their pays by midnight before leaving the room.

The stage actors shrugged to themselves before walking over to the remaining duo and bowing apologetically. They didn't realize it wasn't a staged stunt. Some of them seemed to recognize Sakura as well, but she gave them a cold stare, daring them to out her. None of them did. Smart boys, they were.

The larger group left leaving just Sakura and Tobirama behind. She turned to her boss, "Now what?"

Tobirama looked around for the breaker, "We'll turn off the power and then head back. Dinner sounds good right about now."

Sakura smiled gently, "Understood, Tobirama-sama." Her boss glanced at her just then and froze for a fraction of a second, but she still saw it. She cocked her head to the side, worried he might not be fine after all. Her lips thinned and her eyebrows creased in worry, "Tobirama-sama, are you sure you're fine?"

The man shook himself out of his stupor before nodding at her, "Yes, I'm fine. Let's go." He turned and left without looking back. Sakura quickly found the breaker near the exit and flipped it to cut the power before following after her boss. She hurried the last few steps to make it to the door before he did, holding it open for him. When he exited, she followed and locked up. They entered the car again and were driven back to headquarters.

Once inside the building again they entered the elevator and Sakura pushed a button that wasn't their office floor's. Tobirama glanced at the panel, "Where are we going?" Sakura smiled again, delighted that they were getting food and that yay, the electronics were working again.

"We're heading to the Akimichi Cafe on the thirtieth floor. They're the best cooks in the city, and they also serve the freshest fish. How does unagi kabayaki sound, sir?" she turned to the older man.

Tobirama watched her for a moment, stunned by her bold decision. He merely nodded in approval before watching the number at the top of the elevator flitter.

x

 **Author's Note:** I didn't have the tools to keep working on that IKEA wardrobe, so here you go.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

There was something wrong with him, Tobirama decided.

He sat down at one of the tables facing the service counter and watched as his assistant ordered their dinner. Sakuya greeted the older lady at the counter with familiarity that Tobirama did not possess with most other employees and was surprised when the woman reciprocated.

Sakuya waited at the pick-up area making idle chatter with the woman now that most employees had gone home for the evening and traffic had slowed. Chouji popped his head out from the kitchen and smiled when he saw his friend. He came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands and greeted the slimmer man. Something unpleasant flashed through Tobirama and he stilled, not understanding the reason for such a feeling.

He continued to watch Sakuya, confused at himself for his reactions to his assistant. It didn't help when a flash of relief went threw him when he other man finally turned away from the Akimichis and walked over with two trays of hot food.

Sakuya set the trays on the table, Tobirama's share first before his own and then seated himself across from the Senju. "Itadakimasu," they said before digging in to the hot meal.

Tobirama's eyes widened at his first bite. This food was delicious. Like, four-star hotel delicious. He never knew a restaurant in his own building served such heavenly food. Everything about the flavours and texture were perfection.

Sakuya smiled, amused at his boss's reaction, "Good isn't it?"

Tobirama was at a loss for words, "This... this is beyond good! Why do they not have their own standalone restaurant? They would be famous." Sakuya's smile remained as he explained it simply, "They don't want the fame, they just want to serve good food."

They continued to eat in companionable silence and not once did Sakuya look up from his meal. Tobirama would know because he had been sneaking glances at his assistant as they ate. He noticed that the smaller man had impeccable table manners, his movements precise and poised. Perhaps he studied tea ceremony at one point?  
The unpleasant feeling returned again. The one that came with not knowing what others knew.

"Where did you learn to fight?" he said as he picked up his soup bowl. Sakuya blinked before he composed himself and looked at the other man, "At the military academy, sir. And then when my friend started going to gyms and eventually opened his own, I was there for that too."

Tobirama made a thoughtful noise, pleased to hear information directly from the source. "Why did you pick up martial arts?" he asked, truly curious. Sakuya smiled wistfully as he finished his main dish, "Because I was bullied as a child."

The Senju looked a little surprised, "Because of the way you look?" As in, effeminate.

Sakuya cocked his head to the side in thought, "I suppose so. I did have a pretty wide forehead as a child. Not so much now that I've grown into it. Besides, pink hair and green eyes although natural, is free bully material. I think one time they decided to ignore me because they said fairies weren't real, and I might eat them if anyone talked to me."

Tobirama felt a sudden flash of anger, no child deserved that. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Sakuya merely shrugged and started on his salad, "No harm done. The rumour started circulating just before halloween so a friend and I dressed up as werewolves to scare the others. It was awesome."

They finished the rest of their meal and when Tobirama got up, Sakuya did as well, taking both their trays to the trolley by the wall. The Senju walked ahead to the exit but turned and waited for his assistant to catch up. As he neared, Chouji came out of the kitchen again with a small take out container in a bag. He handed it to Sakuya telling him, "Your favourite. Don't let the other knows I spoil you."

Sakuya's cheeks heated as he accepted the bag, thanking Chouji profusely before catching up to the boss. Tobirama saw the whole exchange and again the unpleasant feeling returned briefly.

They boarded the elevator and this time he pressed the right number for his floor and glanced at his assistant who seemed to be very happy about the free take-out. Whatever was it. As the elevator began to ascend, he couldn't help but voice something that had been bothering him for a while now.

"When Izuna got a good look at you, did you know what he was talking about?" Tobirama threw out nonchalantly, hoping to solve the puzzle. Sakuya flinched and looked up from the take-out bag, "Uh... I think so?"

Tobirama didn't look like he was going to just drop the topic so Sakuya decided to humour his boss by explaining a little bit more, "That friend that started his own gym, is Uchiha Sasuke. He owns a gym as well as a studio that teaches stage acting, stunt work, and martial arts. That was the voice on the other end of Izuna-san's phone, as you know."

The taller man nodded but it seemed like he wanted to know more so Sakuya continued, "We've known each other since we were children. If Izuna-san recognized me, it's because Mikoto-san often told Sasuke to invite myself and another to their family dinners and events. Izuna-san was often in attendance with Madara-san, but they would convene amongst their own age group. Pink hair isn't a common sight and it must have been a memory in the back of his mind until he saw me again."

Tobirama nodded, his curiosity satisfied and the unpleasant feeling completely dissipated.

Once they were back inside the office, the pair decided to finish a few more things before calling it a night. Tobirama looked up from his document and caught his assistant's attention. "Tomorrow," he started, "before the first appointment, I want you to meet me at the gym on the twelfth floor. If you'd humour me, I would like to spar with you."

Sakuya merely nodded in agreement before returning his attention to his tablet.

There was something wrong with him, Tobirama concluded, and it involved a pink-haired new hire.

x

 **Author's Note:** Just one more. I couldn't resist. Felt like I had to make up for all the neglect with this one and progress with Stay Human.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"Hey Sakura-chan, my favourite pupil!" the voice on the other end of line said as Sakura drove home, her phone connected to the car's audio. The woman sighed lightly, she had a feeling she knew what was about to happen.

"Ah, you sighed just now, didn't you?" the speaker continued. Sakura rolled her eyes, her former instructor could be so dramatic. "Cut to the chase Kakashi, I'm driving, what do you need?" she said as she checked her signals and entered the right lane.

She could practically see the man's masked smile. "We're a little short staffed tonight at the diner, I was wondering you could three wouldn't mind covering the usual positions?" She could hear a sink being run in the background. She smiled to herself, some things just never changed.

"I'll grab the boys and be over within the hour," she replied. She couldn't exactly let loose tonight, since she still had work tomorrow. But working at Kakashi's diner was fun. Especially when the whole team was together. Kakashi thanked her kindly, sung a few praises and then ended the call.

When the light turned red, she quickly punched a few buttons to conference call Sasuke and Naruto, when they picked up she said, "Boys, Kakashi needs us to help out tonight. I promised within the hour!" Naruto responded with a whoop of joy and Sasuke muttered something about 'not enough time to get ready'. He was probably still pissed from his uncle's antics earlier.

She told them to get on it and ended the call as she pulled into her driveway. She rushed in, greeted Tsunade and went straight her room. She pulled out a decent outfit for the night and jumped into the shower. A quick shower later and she stood in front of her vanity, looking down at the make up boxes.

Mulling over what to use, she eventually settled for something simple. She was never too big on cosmetics but she did like to bring out her eyes. Applying cats' eyes and then a smudge-proof lip gloss, she dried her hair and styled it with practiced ease. She brushed her hair to one side and added gel to hold it in place. Then she gave the ends a quick, loose curl.

She donned her outfit, a low v-neck red tee, a black open button shirt and black capris. She accessorized with a necklace and several bracelets on each wrist. Deeming herself pretty enough to make even the most difficult customers compliant, she went downstairs and told the blonde woman she was heading out to Kakashi's. She put on a pair of flats and headed back out the door.

She pulled up at the back of the diner in record time and entered through the kitchen. She greeted everyone by name and hurried towards the main room. It seemed like she was the last to arrive tonight.

"Beautiful as always, Sakura-chan," Naruto greeted his adopted sister and gave her a bear hug. She greeted everyone and Kakashi held a quick meeting about tonight's positions before having them on standby. Naruto went outside to put up the banner, announcing that they were open for the evening.

Guests began to pour in, Naruto and Sakura sharing the responsibility of seating the arrivals. Most regulars were surprised but eagerly welcomed the familiar sight on the colourful trio. "Order up!" Naruto shouted as he slapped a few sheets on the counter in front of Sasuke. The raven sighed put organized the order sheets with ease and issued orders to the assistant chefs.

"Sakura-chan!" Anko waved from her booth in the corner. The pinkette beamed as she approached one of her former instructors and wasn't surprised in the least when she saw who the older woman was with. "Genma-san, Ibiki-san, and Aoba-san!" she greeted the men as she came to a stop in front of the their table, "The usual drinks to start?" she asked. Ibiki gave the approval nod and Sakura headed for the bar.

"Kakashi-sensei, the usual order for your friends please!" Sakura told the scarecrow as she busied herself pouring beer orders for another table. The man was already halfway making those same drink orders when she appeared. "I'm not your sensei anymore, remember?" he placed the drinks on Sakura's tray as she loaded the rest of the space with beer.

"Once a teacher, always a teacher, sensei!" Sakura replied cheekily as she turned, carrying the large and obviously heavy tray with practiced ease. It was such a common sight among the regulars that no one really paid much attention to it. She dropped off the beers first before bringing swinging by the kitchen counter and picking up a prepared assortment of snacks from Sasuke.

She made her way back to Ibiki's table and dropped off the drinks and the snack platter. "A little something from Sasuke, Ibiki-san. He says the jerky goes well with your usual drink and won't interfere with the enokitake later." The large man gave a slip of a smirk and Sakura took that as a sign of approval. She excused herself after taking their dinner order and returned to the kitchen counter to drop off the paper.

Dinner service continued smoothly, as many of the regulars began to order more and more alcohol. The door slid open and Sakura turned and beamed, "Lee-san! Gai-sensei!" she ushered them further inside and seated them further down the row from Anko's table. "Just two tonight?" she said as she laid out the menus for them. Gai shook his head, "Sakura-kun! Youthful as ever! Tonight Tenten and Neji will also be joining us."

Sakura nodded enthusiastically, "A group dinner then, how wonderful that your team still keeps in touch after the academy days, Lee-san!" Rock Lee flushed under the attention but composed himself quickly. After all, he was a working man now, married to the best engineer in the city! But there would always been a special place in his heart for a childhood crush that helped bring him and his wife together. "I suppose it helps that Tenten and I are married after all," Lee scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

Sakura grinned with mirth, "I suppose it does. I'll be back in a bit, tea for now?" she suggested and the men agreed. Lee was banned from alcohol, for various reasons, and Gai always wanted to be a responsible adult. As she went back to the kitchen counter to pour tea, she heard the door slid open again and Naruto shout, "Hey, Mito-ba! Hashi-ji and Tobi-ji! You guys here for dinner too?"

Sasuke had never seen his pink-haired friend dive for cover so fast before. If only she had been this fast in their academy drills.

x

 **Author's Note:** So, this happened. x)


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

(Still Sakura)

This seriously was not happening. She leaned against the work table and dared to peer around the edge. She caught a glimpse of her boss, her boss's brother and his wife talking animatedly with Naruto as he guided them to a room in the back. When they were out of sight she heaved a sigh of relief, if only temporary. "Sakura," Sasuke nudged her with his foot to bring her back to reality, "You're blocking the fridge. I need to get the cucumbers."

Startled she got up quickly and apologized, "I think I need to have a chat with Kakashi." She made her way quickly over to her former instructor and boss, who must have seen her little stunt cause he looked mighty amused. "I heard about it from Shikaku-san," was all he said. She just wanted to grab her hair and scream but she just gave him a nervous look, "He can't find out. Not now, not ever, preferably."

Kakashi stalled for another moment as he watched her anxiety escalate. He liked to mess with his favourites sometimes. He motioned towards the locker room, "We won't survive if you take off, but I think Karin left her wig in the back." Spirits suddenly lifted, she hugged the man with one arm, "Thanks Kakashi, you're the best!"

A few months ago Karin, Naruto's cousin, had a mishap. She got something stuck in her hair that was impossible to take out. And it was pretty high up in the strands. She ended up having to get her hair cut, and it was shortened down to a pixie cut. She then went and bought a red wig that was similar to her natural colour and original length, and she wore it at work whenever she had a shift. She claimed customers liked her long hair and always tipped better.

She quickly entered the locker room and pulled out the wig while quickly sending a text to her adoptive cousin, begging for forgiveness and an explanation later. She moved to the mirror and put on the wig to the best of her ability. She moved her head around in various angles and motions to make sure the wig looked as natural as possible, and that it stayed in place. Satisfied, she quickly returned to the floor and starting taking plates to their respective tables.

"Sakura, why'd you suddenly put on Karin's wig?" Anko asked as she picked a chicken skewer, she took a bite and pointed the stick at the girl, "Any trouble we need to know about?"  
The men at the table perked up at this and Sakura quickly shook her head, "No, no! Not that sort of trouble, please be at ease. I just.. don't want to be recognized right now."

Aoba nodded his head, "You're right, not everyday you run into a pretty girl with natural pink hair. You were always the easiest to pick out of a crowd." Sakura flushed at the attention and quickly excused herself. She busied herself for the next little while, making damn sure to stay away from the private room. But alas, not everything was meant to last.

"Sakura," Sasuke caught her attention with his deadpan call. She walked up the counter and he put some plates on her tray, "This is for Hashirama-san and his party in the back room. On the house from Kakashi and the fish is for Tobirama-san, an apology on behalf of the Uchiha." He ended his sentence with a tsk, remembering why he had to offer food to the man in the first place. Because of his idiot uncle.

She nodded and obediently took the tray. She looked around, hoping to shaft the duty on somebody else but they were all busy. She caught Kakashi smiling from the bar and cursed him twice over for good measure. She made her way to the back room and balanced the tray on one hand before knocking on the screen and sliding it open.

"Good evening," she walked over the table and set the tray down, "a few dishes on the house from Kakashi-san and the head chef." She started to place the dishes on to the table, arranging them to face the person they were meant for. She placed the last dish, mushroom mixed soup in front of Hashirama and the man looked up to thank her, "I didn't know you were working tonight Karin!"

She looked up and noticed that both Hashirama and Mito were looking at her, but Mito looked confused. Sakura looked at the Senju and shook her head subtly and a look of realization dawned on the married couple's faces. The trio quickly glanced over at Tobirama and realized he was too engrossed in replying to messages on his phone to notice what had just transpired.

She bowed politely and left the room, but not before hearing Hashirama reprimand his younger brother, "Tobirama! Put your phone away for an hour and join us for dinner. Imagine what mother would say if she could see you now." Sakura didn't have to look back to know her boss would probably be giving his brother a pointed look before pocketing his food and giving thanks. She slid the door closed and walked away.

Maybe she would survive the night.

The dinner rush continued without much pause and eventually the diners left and the drinkers remained. The kitchen began closing down and Sakura moved to the bar to help with the drink orders. A lot of the regulars started making their departure, claiming an early morning the next day.

Anko made her way up to the bar, "Thanks for dinner Kakashi!" Kakashi gave his signature one-eye smile, "Please pay your bill on the way out." Anko mock pouted, "How cold, Kakashi, can't treat a comrade to one dinner?"

Kakashi maintained his smile, "Not for a table of five, no. And definitely not with your appetites. Remember to pay on the way out!" Anko decided to continue the dramatics, "Sakura-chan! Your boss is so mean don't you think?"

And it was at that moment that Hashirama's party passed by. And stopped in their tracks.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

He should have stayed home. But instead he picked up a phone call from Hashirama and got his butt dragged out to dinner. He still had work to do too. And he already ate earlier.

"It's been forever since Mito has seen you, so show your face for dinner will you, little brother?" Hashirama said over the phone. Tobirama had made the point of grumbling. He saw his sister-in-law plenty of times. Certainly never at work, but outside of that, she saw him as frequently as she saw all the other brothers.

She probably just wanted to grill him on the new kid.

He rode in the back of the car and was not surprised in the least when they pulled up at Kakashi's diner. It was a good place with good food and service. Plus they had private rooms in the back, and that's what Tobirama enjoyed the most because it cut off the noise from the front of the house.

Hashirama entered first followed by his wife and brother and Naruto was there to greet them at the door. "Hey, Mito-ba! Hashi-ji and Tobi-ji! You guys here for dinner too?" He reached out and gave Mito a bear hug. The blonde was massive now that he was done growing. More built than either of his uncles.

Mito and Kushina were cousins, which made Naruto her nephew. Kind of. Tobirama didn't really understand how relations worked when the first cousins have kids. He didn't really care for it either; at the end of the day, family is family their mother used to say.

They were quickly guided to the back room and Sasuke gave his greetings when they passed by the open kitchen. Tobirama made sure to keep his impassive face intact, unsettling the younger Uchiha would do him well to better control his uncle in the future. Hopefully. Very little people had a say in what Izuna could or couldn't do.

They sat down at the table and Naruto handed out the menus and said he'd be back with the drinks. When he came back with the hot tea and cups, he took their order and left the room again, sliding the screen door closed behind him,

"Now then," Mito really knew how to get down to business, "How's this new assistant of yours working out?"

Tobirama sighed, time to get this done and over with. "Tsunade got me drunk and he had to look after me on his first day on the job." Mito gasped, "Tsunade managed to get you drunk on a work night?"

Tobirama grumbled, "She's manipulative, I'll give her that."

"You didn't scare him away did you?" Mito took a sip from her tea cup.

Tobirama wanted to pout but that would have been petty. "Actually, today Izuna decided to pull a stunt while we were inspecting the warehouse. Sakuya handled it rather well." He smirked at the memory of the Uchiha dropping to the floor in a heap. He tried to hide it by picking up his cup, but his sister-in-law caught it.

"Izuna didn't hurt him did he?" Mito knew of Izuna's penchant for pranks, but sometimes they got a little out of hand. She was convinced this one-sided rivalry was rather something else for the Uchiha.

"On the contrary, the boy disabled Izuna from the neck down."

This earned him another gasp followed by a simple command, "Tell me all about it!" The younger Senju didn't really want to tell a story. He gave his brother a look and Hashirama grinned. "Izuna told Madara, and then Madara told me, I will fill you in on the details later dear. I'm sure Tobirama doesn't want to relive that moment right now."

A moment where a shorter, pink-haired male managed to get the better of eight grown men _and_ Uchiha Izuna? Yeah, he didn't want to revisit that just yet. He pulled out his phone and busied himself answering the endless amount of emails while the married couple talked amongst themselves. The emails just never stopped. It was definitely a lot easier with Sakuya around. No idea how he does it, but the influx is significantly less with him around.

Tobirama guesses that's what assistants are for.

The door slid open again and a waitress set a tray down on the edge of their table. "Good evening, a few dishes on the house from Kakashi-san and the head chef." He caught a splash of red hair in his periphery as plates were placed on the table rather noiselessly at that.

"I didn't know you were working tonight, Karin!" Mito exclaimed in surprise and joy.

Ah, Karin, another one of Mito's nieces. The Uzumaki bred like rabbits, he would like to say. But that's calling the kettle black considering the same could be said for the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuuga. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes so he could focus on the emails. She left eventually and Hashirama tried to get his brother's attention.

Tobirama frowned, "It's unfair to use Mother like that. Besides, I already ate tonight. I will eat very little so do not go overboard brother." He picked up his chopsticks and reached for the fish, it would be a waste to not eat freshly grilled fish.

After dinner they left the room and made their way towards the front of the house. When they passed by the bar and Hashirama recognized a few of the patrons, he stopped in his tracks, "Anko-kun! I wouldn't say Kakashi-kun was mean. But he is known for being cheap as heck!" The regular patrons laughed at this, it was a common fact after all.

"Sakura-chan," Kakashi nodded towards the girl with the long red hair, "Why don't you help cash your guests out at the front. Don't want a line-up building." The girl nodded and wiped her hands dry on a towel and made her way to the register by the door as the patrons continued to move towards the exit.

 _I thought her name was Karin. Did she change her name? Is it a stage name? ...Maybe someone else working here has red hair. Whatever._

"Hashirama-san," the girl spoke as she bunched in numbers into the register. The voice sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place it, "your total for the night." Hashirama pulled out he bills and handed it to the girl. She opened the register and withdrew the correct change, placing it on the small dish beside the machine. "Here's your change, thank you and have a good evening."

She looked up and caught Tobirama's glance before quickly looking back down. But he saw her eyes. _Definitely a different girl. Karin's eyes were red I think._

He followed after his brother without much further thought and got into the car. It's been a long day, and he still had a spar with Sakuya tomorrow.

x

 **Author's Note:** Tobirama, you are so dense. So dense!


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15  
(Still Tobirama)

He should have driven in his own car. He knew, and yet here he sat in the back of his brother's car. His sister-in-law in the passenger seat.

"So, now that you have this new assistant of yours, and it seems to be working out well, that means you have more free time right?" Mito asked as she looked out the window. Tobirama instinctively frowned, he knew where this conversation was heading.

"My time is still just as occupied, just with the more important matters and more of brother's workload."

Mito pouted, "I'm sure Hashirama appreciates what you do, Tobirama, but there's no need to pick up more of his workload than you already do."

Tobirama wasn't going to let her get her way, "But if I didn't, he wouldn't be able to come home on time to have dinner with you."

Mito narrowed her eyes, the little rascal was trying to manipulate the conversation. "Oh Tobirama, worry less about our marriage and more about the lack of your own. Don't you want to find a loving wife?" She mentally patted herself on the back.

Tobirama looked at his sister-in-law's reflection in the rearview mirror, "There is no need. The Senju line will continue just fine with brother and yourself. I have no need for... progeny of my own." Mito smiled wistfully as she placed one hand over her husband's and another over her belly. She wasn't showing yet, but she would be soon.

But she was just as equally as sad for Tobirama, "Oh Tobi, I guess you're the kind that wouldn't know until they've had a taste." Before he could respond, Hashirama spoke up for him, "But he'd rather burn the forbidden fruit then risk taking a bite, wouldn't you brother?"

Tobirama grew tired of these conversations. He had no interest in finding a woman to pair himself with. His priorities were family and the business. The philosophy was 'if it happens, it happens' but he would rather prefer it didn't. It was a distraction he didn't have time for.

"Oh little brother," Hashirama sighed as he glanced at the rearview mirror, "One of these days, cupid's arrow will strike you in the butt, and then you'll be screwed!"

Tobirama prayed that day never came.

They pulled into his driveway and he got out from the car. He bid the married couple and entered his home. Locking the door behind him, he removed his tie and jacket. He entered the kitchen, turning on the kitchen lights. Everything clean and tidy as if no one ever used it. He sighed a little. His house did look a little cold and unused, but that was the life of a businessman. He pulled out a glass and filled it with water before retiring to his bedroom.

He changed out of his clothes and into pajamas. The shower could wait til the morning after the spar. Hopefully he could work up a good sweat. He lied down on his bed and quickly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

He woke up the next morning feel surprisingly refreshed. He did his morning routine and managed to make it out the door in record time. He drove to headquarters and pulled into the underground parking lot. When he neared his spot, he was surprised to see Sakuya's car already parked next to it. He glanced at his clock. 5:45A.M. it read. He was here before his boss was, perhaps he was looking forward to the spar too.

He quickly pulled into his spot and parked. He got out and pulled his briefcase with him, shutting and locking the door. The valet greeted him at the door and he returned it with a nod and made his way to the elevator. He punched in the number for his floor and went there first to deposit his briefcase.

When he entered Sakuya's office, he was nowhere in sight, but the hot water dispenser was plugged in. Tobirama entered his office and went straight to his desk. As he neared it, he found a simple egg sandwich and a mug of hot tea waiting for him. The sandwich was still warm. He walked around the desk and deposited the briefcase in his chair when he noticed an attached note.

He pulled it out from under the plate and read it quickly:

 _Please enjoy a simple snack before our spar. It is unhealthy to exercise on an empty stomach. I've gone ahead to warm up downstairs._

 _\- Sakuya_

Never one to turn down a warm meal, he loosened the tie and grabbed a sandwich half and ate as he surveyed his office. Clean and organized. The mess of papers and files from last night placed back in their rightful spots, out of sight. And a new cascading row of files sat on the right side of his desk within reaching distance. Most likely today's cases.

He drank half his tea before finishing the other sandwich and draining the cup entirely. Satisfied for the time being, he made his way back to the elevator and took it down to the correct level with the exercise facilities.

One of the cleaning staff greeted him when he exited the elevator and he returned the greeting. All else was quiet except for the hum of the vacuum. He made his way to the locker room and entered. No Sakuya in sight either. Tobirama made his way to his personal locker and made a quick change of clothing. Properly outfitted, he grabbed a towel and made his way to the training room.

It was a large space with sections covered in mats. There was a boxing ring in one corner, but for the most part, this space was to practice martial arts. He found Sakuya meditating on one of the middle section mats. He quietly approached the younger man, but the sound of the door opening would have given him away regardless.

When Tobirama neared, Sakuya turned and bowed politely to his boss, "Good morning Tobirama-sama. I'm looking forward to our spar, I hope I do not disappoint you."

The Senju caught the glint in Sakuya's eyes. Oh, he was definitely looking forward to this.

x

 **Author's Note:** So last week I picked up FF12: The Zodiac Age and basically bailed on everything outside of work and walking my dog. So yeah. I'm at the final dungeon and it's hella long so it's gotta wait till my next day off. So in the mean time, I will work on a few more chapters for all fics hopefully. Thanks for reading!


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sakura made it her mission to make it to work nice and early, well before anybody else could, including Tobirama. She was relieved when she pulled into the lot and his car wasn't there.

Being the exemplary assistant that she was, she dropped off her things at her desk and started the water heater with new filtered water. She pressed a few buttons to adjust the temperature. Different teas had different optimal water temperatures. If there was anything she pulled away from Tea Ceremony club, it was this. Useless information that actually ended up coming in handy.

She made a trip down to Chouji's cafe and ordered a breakfast after exchanging greetings with his mother. Chouji's mother was a very caring woman and was always eager to feed everything, especially her son. When she heard that Sakura was here early to have a sparring match with Tobirama himself, well... she ladled soup and an extra helping of tamagoyaki for the girl.

"Child, you are but a wisp, no matter how strong you may be. Eat up, dear," she said encouragingly as she added an extra helping of pickled cucumbers. Of course, Chouji's mother also knew of Sakura's situation and would remain mum.

She quickly ate her breakfast as she kept an eye on her watch. Tobirama would probably be pulling in any minute now. She ordered an egg sandwich to go for her boss and took it up to his office. She dispensed hot water into the tea pot and let it steep as she walked over to his office window. She looked down and just her luck, she caught sight of his car entering the underground parking entrance. She filled his cup with tea and penned a quick note, leaving it under the plate.

She quickly made her way out the doors, grabbing her bag along the way made a quick exit to the elevator. She was sure right about now he would be exiting the other elevator. She got off on the correct floor and made her way to the locker room. She greeted the cleaning staff and made her way to the men's locker room. It was weird that she was in here, but it would be even weirder if Tobirama didn't catch sight of his _male_ assistant in here if he decided to come to the gym first.

It was empty and clean, and for that she was extremely grateful to whatever deity that was watching today. She darted into the bathroom stall and locked the door behind her, and began stripping. She carefully folded her clothes and put them aside and pulled out her gi and a grey shirt. White was a little too dangerous in case it got damp with sweat and he managed to see the outline of her bindings.

She looked at the pants and then at the rolled up towel beside it. She groaned internally. She had to put that down there too, she had completely forgotten.

Or rather, she didn't want to be reminded.

Men had those... things between their legs and if Tobirama managed to make body contact with her, which was extremely likely because judo included throwing and pinning, it would be weird if she didn't have one as a 'man'. Even if men generally avoided contact with another man's thing. She picked up the rolled towel and shoved it between her two layers of underwear, hoping that would do the trick.

She pulled on her pants and then the top and tied the belt around her waist a little looser than normal in case her natural body shape showed too easily. She ditched the body suit for the match, a risk she was willing to take if she wanted better movement. The competitive side of her also wanted to win, so, she would just have to deal and be careful.

She packed up her things and put them away in a free locker far away from Tobirama's, like a couple rows over and closer to the showers. She pulled the key away and put it in a hidden pocket. She made her way to the room with all the mats and began her kata while she waited for her boss to show up.

She concentrated on stretching and getting her stances right. She would admit, she was slightly out of practice with her katas. She ended the warm-up session with meditation and it wasn't long before the door opened. She assumed Tobirama had arrived.

She got up from her seat, "Good morning," she bowed politely, "I'm looking forward to our spar. I hope I do not disappoint you."  
Something must have shown on her face because Tobirama smirked at her. "Likewise," he returned with a slight inclination of his head. "You've already warmed up I assume?" to which she nodded. "Then give me a few moments to stretch and then we will begin."

She stood off to the side and stretched her hamstrings while she waited for Tobirama to warm up. She tried not to stare, but she kept looking over and it was getting harder and harder to pull her gaze away. The man was built, she didn't need to see him undressed to know he was muscular. He also wasn't wearing anything under his top and she occasionally caught glimpses of his bare chest. Heat threatened to stain her cheeks so she looked away quickly and busied herself until he was ready.

She had to remain professional. He was her boss. Nothing else. It was a mantra at this point.

"Well then," Tobirama got up on to his feet and faced her, "Are you ready?"

Sakura nodded, "Yes sir."

"Then let's begin." They walked closer towards the mat and stood a few paces apart. They bowed to each other and got into their favoured stances. She recognized his, a variation of the Senju's favoured form that Hashirama had once thought to teach Naruto but it never stuck. She had some practice sparring against this style since a few Senju practiced at Sasuke's studio. She would just have to roll with whatever he dished out.

With little warning, Tobirama charged.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

His pink-haired assistant was a slippery fellow. Every charge was dodged, every swipe was evaded. No matter what he did, Sakuya remained on the defensive, not giving him any openings.

"You'll have to tell me who taught you in the Academy later," Tobirama spoke as they circled each other, his eyes watching the younger man like a hawk, ready for any sign of weakness. Sakuya favoured no particular side and his stance wasn't the Academy taught version, so it made figuring things out a little trickier.

"A little bit here, a little bit there," his assistant answered vaguely. Tobirama lifted a brow, clearly he was either the jack of all arts, or the master of none. "Do you plan on remaining on the defensive forever?"

Sakuya smiled, a little cocky, just because he wanted to provoke his boss, "Just plotting away, sir."

The white-haired man grumbled and lunged and Sakuya prepared to block, but Tobirama dropped down at the last second, sweeping his feet out from under him. Sakuya fell backwards, but arched into a backflip before Tobirama could change from a sweep to a pin.

"That thing you did at the warehouse," Tobirama started, "Can you do it again?"

Sakuya seemed to hesitate, "I don't normally use it unless there's an express need for it. Pressure point blocking can last for hours sometimes. And since we have work after this, I should refrain."

"Then show me what else you can do," he shot forward again, aiming a punch to his stomach. Sakuya pushed Tobirama's arm to the side with one hand, spun around clockwise so that they were back to back almost and hit the side of Tobirama's ribs with the heel of his palm in an upward motion.

Tobirama was thrust back from the move and he winced at the resulting pain. Sakuya grinned, "Only because you asked, Tobirama-sama, I mean no ill will," and then he rushed forward, striking specific points on the man's torso. Tobirama had a little difficulty keeping up with the strikes. The final one done with the heels of both his palms, thrust into his core sent Tobirama flying back, landing on the edge of the mat.

Eyes widening in alarm, Sakuya quickly rushed over to his boss, immediately regretting what he had done, "I'm so sorry Tobirama-sama, are you okay?" he leaned over and reached down to check his head.

Tobirama's eyes snapped open and he grabbed hold of Sakuya's outstretched arm, and threw him down, bringing himself up in the process, pinning his assistant. He wedged a knee between his legs and pinned one leg down with his other knee just to make sure the younger man wouldn't be able to get up. One arm was caught in his hand, his other hand fisted in the man's shirt to hold him in place.

Sakuya blinked, feeling dazed. Tobirama's smirk was wolfish, "Never let your guard down."

His assistant's mouth open and closed like a gaping fish. The Senju decided he quite liked that stunned reaction on his assistant's face, seeing how he was often more composed. Tobirama looked down at the man, "What's wrong? Not willing to admit defeat?"

Sakuya shook himself out of his stupor, "I yield!" He face started to heat up. Tobirama's brows pinched together, "Are you all right?"

Sakuya was looking everywhere but at him. His gaze shot down towards their feet and then up past his face and at the ceiling lights, "You're crushing me," he said in a hushed voice.

"What?" Tobirama glanced down and realized that his knee was pressing against the apex of his assistant's thighs. He must be hurting his assistant. He quickly released the younger man and backed away, getting up first and then extending a hand to help him up.

Sakuya collected himself and grabbed his boss's hand and pulled himself up. He kept his eyes averted as he bowed politely, ending their spar. The Senju returned the bow and they thanked each other for the match.

His assistant insisted on cleaning up and sent his boss to shower and change first. Tobirama shrugged and did so. He entered the locker room and showered. The spar had given him a decent workout. He replayed parts of the match in his mind, wondering where he could have moved differently, and if his assistant would have moved differently.

Feeling refreshed and his muscles no longer aching, he shut off the shower and grabbed his towel. Drying himself off, he wrapped it around his waist and secured in place and exited the stall. He opened his locker just as the door opened and Sakuya entered.

"Tobirama-sama! You're still here!" his assistant seemed surprised to still see him here. And his eyes were looking off to the side again. "Should I not be?" Tobirama asked as he let his towel drop too the floor and he reached into his bag to grab his underwear.

When no response met him, he looked around the door to find his assistant not in the same spot. A voice filtered from behind one of the walls, "The-there's a meeting schedule in thirty minues!"

Perhaps because of his past with being bullied, his assistant was uncomfortable with nudity. Tobirama shrugged at his thoughts as he pulled on his pants and zipped them, "Is that so?"  
He heard a sigh coming from behind the wall.

"Yes, sir. Sarutobi-sama from the Tourism branch wants to discuss the development schedule for the theme park," Sakuya said as he closed his own locker door and reappeared with a bundle of clothes in his arms. His eyes still averted.

Tobirama nodded, "Very well, then I'll head back to the office first. Can you get food on the way up please?" His assistant bowed, "Yes, sir." The Senju nodded as he finished dressing and closed his locker door.

Time for another day at work.

He walked out without looking back, completely missing his assistant's body sagging to the floor in relief.

x

 **Author's Note:** I feel like Tobirama would have no problem walking around naked in a locker room, or in his home, you know? I'm just messing with Sakura :D Tobirama thought he was probably crushing Sakuya's nuts while Sakura was trying to avoid looking at Tobirama's bare chest and desperately hoping he couldn't feel her chest (that one hand fisting her shirt and holding her down).


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sakura couldn't wait for the day to be over. One more hour and then it was the weekend. She didn't have the steel to meet her boss's eyes for the whole day and she made damn sure to stay a good distance from the man.

Because she had seen it.

She had seen _it_.

And she would never be able the un-see it for the rest of her life. Because she was cursed with photographic memory. She silently cursed whatever gods were messing with her today. Every time she closed her eyes, the images flood her mind and she would open her eyes again in alarm, her face flushing. Tobirama even asked if she was coming down with a fever!

When he called for lunch down at the Akimichi's cafe, she knew it was going to be a brief half hour of hell. Her face would not cool down, even when she was paying attention to work instead! As a desperate last resort she ordered curry for lunch to have an excuse for her hot cheeks. Curse her memory! Curse her boss! Curse it all!

Maybe she should find a new job.

But she liked her work. She liked seeing so many familiar faces in the building. She liked being useful. She also liked the pay. She sighed.

Red face and pink hair did not go well together.

She glanced up at the clock, five minutes left and she could finally leave. Time to wrap this up!

Sakura typed away on her laptop, the speed increasing steadily as the day went by. She sent off some final emails and confirmed the schedule for next week, especially Monday. Seeing that everything was arranged, she got up from the chair in Tobirama's office and turned to her boss. "Sir, is there anything else?"

Tobirama looked up from his computer screen and looked between his assistant and the computer clock. "There's a few files I would like you to take home and look over for Monday," he leaned over to open the drawer and pulled out a few folders. Sakura walked over to take them and place it in her bag.

"Anything else?" she really wanted to get out.

Tobirama paused for a moment as he looked at the mini calendar next the computer. As if suddenly remembering, he looked at her, "This Sunday, Hashirama is hosting a birthday party for his wife, Mito. They wished to extend an invitation to you."

Crap. She had totally forgotten about her adoptive aunt's birthday. Crap it all to hell and back.

She smiled nervously, "Thank you, but I don't think I'll be able to attend." Because she had already promised to go the exact same party with Naruto's family, over a month ago. As herself. As a girl.

Tobirama nodded in understanding, "I see, it is rather sudden, isn't it? Worry not, Hashirama will not think ill of you for not attending. Have a good weekend, Sakuya."

She bowed politely, "Thank you, sir." She walked out and closed the door behind her, praying she didn't look like she was fleeing a crime scene. She packed up her belongings and headed straight down to her car and left the premise as quick as she could without looking like a criminal or something.

She made it home in record time, closing the door behind her. She took of her shoes and saw Tsunade's pair there too. She sped walked into the main room and saw her mentor. She wanted to cry at the absurdity of her situation. She walked over the blond woman and hugged her without warning.

Tsunade turned her head to look back at the younger woman, "Did he break your heart or something?"

Sakura tightened her grip around Tsunade, "I saw it," she muttered into the woman's back. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her friend's behaviour. "It?" she questioned.

Sakura took a deep inhale, Tsunade's scent was extremely comforting. She didn't want to say anymore but she had caught Tsunade's interest. She might as well just get it done and over with. "His... man junk. I saw it."

Tsunade froze. Sakura spoke so quietly she had to strain to hear and then double guessed if she heard correctly. Then the woman burst out laughing at her friend's expense. "Oh, this is a story I want to hear," the Senju wanted dirt on her cousin. She pried the pinkette off and grabbed a bottle of wine and two glasses, pushing her towards the couch.

She filled the glasses and handed on the younger woman. She accepted it easily and down the entire glass. Tsunade raised another brow at that. "So," she said as she refilled the glass, "start talking."

Sakura grudgingly began to tell her tale and it ended with her face on fire. She finished her second glass and grabbed for the bottle.

"So," Tsunade watched her friend's face closely, "is he big?"

Sakura choked on air and started coughing, "Tsunade!" she thumped her chest repeatedly as if it would help, "He's your cousin!"

The woman shrugged carelessly, "And I'm a doctor. Nothing I haven't seen before. So?" she prodded. She was sure the pinkette's face was going to stay red permanently at this rate.

"I don't want to talk about it!" she took a swig from the bottle, "Besides, we have a more pressing issue!"

"Pressing, eh?" Tsunade commented and the pinkette choked again.

Sakura gave her friend a withering glare, "Not funny," and frowned deeper when the blonde carelessly shrugged and gave an innocent smile.

"So, what else has your panties in a knot then?" Tsunade asked and Sakura looked ready to throw the bottle at her.

"Mito-san's birthday party is on Sunday and I already promised to go with Naruto and his family! That's the problem!"

Tsunade stilled as she contemplated the ramifications of this. "Oh yeah," she took a drink from her glass, "You're screwed."

Sakura buried her face in a pillow, maybe that would solve all her problems.

x

 **Author's Note:** I just love messing with her, you know. xD


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Tobirama felt like he was being pulled into consciousness, but he didn't want to wake up. He was enjoying his dream. But alas, it was not meant to be. The soft hand in his dream holding his let go, a gentle smile telling him to 'wake up now'.

The loud, annoying knocks continued on his door. The Senju let out a groan, which came out more like a growl. But it didn't exactly scare his unwelcome visitor. The doorknob turned and his little brothers pushed through the entrance. Kawarama and Itama landed in a heap on the foot of the bed. "Tobi-nii, rise and shine!" the youngest brother was awfully cheerful for a Saturday morning.

Tobirama responded by pelting his brother with one of the pillows. Kawarama dodged skillfully. He wanted to yank on the covers, but he was crazy, not stupid. Too early to incur his brother's wrath.

"Tobi-nii, we need to go shopping for Mito-nee," Itama stated calmly as he sat up on the bed. Tobirama kept his face buried in the pillow for a moment before shifting so that his brothers could hear him clearly, "I already prepared my gift."

Kawarama rolled his eyes, "So have we, but we need to get her something from father, and Hashi-nii has some last minute shopping he wants us to do. So get up and let's go to the mall! We're burning daylight!" Another pillow met his face.

The oldest sighed heavily before dragging himself up into a sitting position. Then it was one foot on the floor, followed by the other.

Satisfied that they're older brother was going to wake up properly, the younger two backed out and waiting for him downstairs. Kawarama started the coffee machine while Itama prepared eggs and toast.

A few minutes later, Tobirama came down the stairs in his casual clothes. He was handed the simply breakfast with a hot cup of coffee and the brothers sat at the island to eat. Kawarama was the first to speak, "Hey, where's your assistant?"

Tobirama quirked an eyebrow as he kept his eyes on the newspaper, "He doesn't live here you know."

Kawarama looked down at his eggs and toast, "But it would be great if he did! That guy can cook!"

Tobirama deemed it unnecessary to reply.

The three made their way out to the mall on the east side of town. They were here to buy a gift for Mito on behalf of their father, who was terrible at gift-giving. Hashirama had also asked them to buy a few more supplies for tomorrow's big bash.

They took their time walking around the mall. This particular one had three floors. Despite it being a busy weekend, it didn't feel packed. But then again, maybe were early and beat the crowd.

"So what should we get here from dad?" Itama asked as he looked at the displays they passed.

"Mito-nee likes books, there's this one she's been meaning to get..." Kawarama started but Tobirama smoothly interjected, "I already got her that. Perhaps jewelry?"

Itama piped up, "Nope, Hashi-nii got her a necklace, I got her a bracelet." The youngest Senju thought he had a stroke of genius when he said, "How about perfume? Women like that stuff right?"

Tobirama sighed, "She doesn't like to wear fragrances. Hashirama is allergic, remember?" The other two looked a little dejected at the reminder.

The men continued to walk down the hallway when Itama paused outside a music store to check out the display. There was a box filled with discounted merchandise and he couldn't help but browse through the rows in hopes of a good find.

Tobirama pulled up and certain sales caught his interest. Hashirama would laugh at him for this, but the second Senju brother had a thing for historical-era movies. There was just something very moving about samurai stories.

Kawarama hung back as he waited for his brothers, leaning against the railing. Being the youngest brother of the bunch, he purchased most things digitally. His brothers were still kind of old school.

A flash of pink and red caught in his periphery and he turned around, but there was no pink in sight. He turned around again to face the entertainment store and leaned against the railing. He thought he saw long pink hair. Maybe he imagined it. Maybe Sakuya had an identical twin.

He shrugged mostly to himself and his brothers left the shop a few minutes later, purchases bagged as in hand. He nodded his head in their original direction, "Come on, we really need to figure this out!"

But then their stomachs growled instead. Breakfast might have been too simple.

The eldest of the trio chuckled, "Let's head down to the food court and get a proper meal," he glanced at his watch, "It's almost noon anyways." The brothers headed down to the lower level by escalator and parted ways to purchase meals from their favourite shops.

Itama waited in line at his favourite yakitori chain when he caught a glimpse of long pink hair in the reflection of the store's display case. He whipped his head around expecting to see Sakuya, but nobody was there. He looked around and caught sight of the owner of the long pink hair disappearing into a clothing store. He turned back around to face the cashier, convinced that Sakuya probably had a sister or cousin. Pink hair like that had to run in his family, right?

The brothers reconvened and found themselves a table. They sat down, ignoring the longing stares of all the young women around them.

"Hey Tobi-nii," Itama caught his brother's attention, "That assistant of yours... does he have siblings?"

Tobirama pondered that as he stared down at his onigirazu. Another thing he didn't know about Sakuya. He tried to recall every moment from the past week, but nothing came to the forefront of his mind. He looked at Itama, "I don't believe so."

The other two weren't entirely convinced.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The saying goes, 'good things come in threes', right?

She should have stayed at home.

But here she was, at the mall, shopping with Ino for a dress to wear to tomorrow's party. Senju Mito's birthday party. Where everyone, literally everyone, would be. Including her boss.

She had the niggling feeling of impending doom in the back of her mind when she saw Kawarama leaning against the banisters outside a CD store. Then, the sense of danger only grew when she saw Itama at the food court. Hook, line and sinker? Her eyes scanned the line-ups and saw the back of Tobirama's head in front of the bento store.

Cursing her luck, she grabbed Ino's hand and darted into the first store opening she saw. She sped walked until they reached the back of the store before letting go of her friend's hand. Only to drop to the floor, a hand over her heart, trying to steady her breathing.

Ino gave her a raised eyebrow. Sakura sighed, "They're here." Ino put a hand on her hip, her expression unchanging. "Tobirama and his younger brothers, they're here."

Understanding dawned on the blond's face before it morphed into a frown and then a smirk, "Good thing we're in a lingerie store then." Sakura immediately stood up straight, glancing left and right at the merchandise. Lingerie.

Finally feeling calm enough, the girls decided to browse through the store to pass the time until the brothers left the food court. Ino walked over the a display of underwear, looking through the different colours. She picked out a few in purple and pink, and when Sakura glanced over, she noticed they were kind of... racy.

Sakura didn't see anything she liked until she walked up to a set up of boy shorts and bikinis. And they were on sale! She picked up a few in various colours. Ino walked over and leaned into Sakura's side, "You won't be impressing any man with those, least of all that Senju hunk."

Sakura's face turned various shades of red, and she harshly whispered at her best friend, "I'm not out to impress anybody and my boss thinks I'm a man, remember?"

Ino pouted before her face twisted into a slight frown, "Then what are you going to do about tomorrow?" The reality of that situation crashed down on her shoulders. The pinkette sighed, "I don't know. I promised Naruto that I would go with the family, which means I have to dress like myself. And Tobirama's bound to be there. Think he'd believe I'm a twin?"

The blond giggled, "If he does, then he's got his own level of oblivious."

The girls made their purchase and headed back out. Sakura looked over towards the food court and made a quick scan, relieved that none of the Senju brothers were still there. But that meant they were still in the mall.

Ino and Sakura walked around the second floor and third floor, occasionally getting sidetracked from their main goal by beauty stores for Ino, book stores for Sakura, and fitness stores for the both of them. They weren't even halfway done going through the mall and the purchases were beginning to add up.

They still had yet to find the perfect outfit for tomorrow's event.

On the top floor, they entered the largest department store in the mall. This was the last stop, and the best chance of finding a good outfit would be here. They navigated quickly to the women's apparel section and began browsing through the racks of dresses.

Ino quickly found a few that she deemed presentable and made a beeline for the changing rooms to try them on, leaving Sakura to her own devices. The pinkette rifled through the racks, occasionally glancing over at the mannequins. She was down to the last rack when she spied a red dress. Unhooking the hanger from the rack, she was pleased to find it in her size. She lifted up the dress and turned it over. It looked nice, felt nice, but did it fit nice?

She searched a little more and picked up a few more pieces in a dark blue, dark green, yellow, and cream white. Satisfied with her finds, she made her way to the changing room just as Ino was walking out, the perfect dress in her hands, "All I need now is to accessorize. Go on ahead and get changing, girl. Got to make sure you've got the right one!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and smiled easily. It's always been like this since they were students, Ino felt the need to approve her fashion choices. Thinking back on it, being 'cute' wasn't exactly a major priority in her younger years. It could probably be contributed to her lack of self-awareness in the gender department.

The clerk at the changing station guided her to a free room and hooked a number plate on the door, "Here you are, miss," the employee said. Sakura thanked her and walked into the changing room, closing the door behind her. She hooked the hangers on the provided rack, giving them equal space apart. She quickly stripped down to her underwear and pulled the cream white dress off the hanger. Slipping it on, she turned to the mirror, turning left and right and around so she could see her back in the mirror.

Humming, she took it off and tried on the green one. Then the blue one. The yellow one. And lastly the red one. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and turned and twirled, testing the dress out. She rather liked it. She always thought red was her colour. Matched the hair.

Nodding to herself, she reached her hand towards the door knob so she could show Ino. Her hand stilled above the knob when she heard her best friend exclaim in surprise, "Oh! Itama-sama! And Kawarama-sama! Good morning, doing a little shopping before Mito-sama's party?"

Sakura froze in terror.

x

 **Author's Note:** Who saw this coming? *raises hand* I did.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Tobirama dipped his head in greeting when his younger brothers walked up to the young Yamanaka heiress. If he remembered correctly, she held a high position at Konoha Cosmetics for someone so young. A real achievement.

He moved towards the clerk at the desk and was guided to an empty changing room. "Here you are sir," the clerk hung a placard on the door knob and moved aside to let him through. The Senju stepped through and closed the door behind him. He glanced around the stall as he hung up his finds. On a small gap at the top of the walls between stalls to help with lighting. He wasn't even six feet, but the walls were a good eight feet in height before the gap.

He began to strip off his clothes in an orderly fashion and proceeded to try on the first set he picked out.

"So, what brings you all here?" he heard the Yamanaka chatting with his brothers. He could practically here the smile in Kawarama's voice, "Just some last minute shopping for Mito-nee's birthday bash. Hashirama can be a little forgetful sometimes."

Outside in the waiting area, Itama glanced over at Ino, "Are you here with someone?" Ino responded with a giggle, "Yes I am, my friend's trying on a dress in the one beside Tobirama-sama's."

Tobirama startled when he heard a crash in the other stall. Blinking twice, he ignored it and continued to try the next set.

"Oh, your boyfriend?" Kawarama teased. Ino gave the man a smack on the shoulder, "Non-sense! My friend is a lovely lady, thank you very much." The youngest Senju could only grin, "Can't wait to meet this lovely lady then," he glanced at the other occupied stall.

Tobirama looked over at the wall that connected their booths together when he heard an impact from their side. He cocked his head to the side, maybe Yamanaka's friend was having difficulty trying on her clothes. Maybe she didn't have enough room.

"Will she be going to the party tomorrow as well?" Itama casually asked. Ino beamed, "Oh yes, she will be!"

Tobirama blinked twice again when he heard a thump from the other stall followed by a low voice. It didn't take much to figure out Yamanaka's friend was cursing beneath her breath. Shrugging, he changed back into his own clothes and exited the booth, his decided purchases in hand.

He nodded at his brothers and waited as they bid the Yamanaka farewell before walking to the register to pay for his purchase.

From then, it was a speedy trip to finish up the remainder of Hashirama's list and Tobirama managed to make it back home just as the sun began to set. He placed his purchases on his bed and went downstairs to the kitchen to fix himself a quick dinner.

While he cooked and ate, he had his laptop on the table; ever the workaholic, he continued to diligently answer emails and sent out some notices of his own before his phone chimed an alarm. Satisfied with what he had accomplished today, he closed the computer and made his way to bed. As soon as he lied down, he felt all his remaining energy seep away and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

Morning came all too soon, and it was a struggle to get up. But he willed himself to do so, for Mito's sake. He would never hear the end of it otherwise from either his sister-in-law, or Hashirama.

It took him less time than usual to wash up and get dressed. He donned a navy casual suit, which would match the occasion perfectly. After all, half the attendees were close friends as well as business contacts. He gave his wardrobe a sparing glance. _If Hashirama hosts with a Aloha shirt..._

Tobirama grimaced but his face relaxed quickly afterward. Mito would have her husband's head if he tried it.

He headed downstairs and prepared the coffee, and like clockwork, his phone rang with one of his brothers calling. He answered while he waited for the coffee to finish brewing, Itama wanted him to pick up the cake while Kawarama picked up the flowers.

An hour later he found himself outside Hashirama and Mito's home, the cake box between himself and Itama, being carefully carried into the house and placed in the fridge. Mito came in through the backyard door and Tobirama walked over to her, kissing her on the cheek, "Happy birthday." Mito smiled and patted Tobirama's cheek with familial affection, "Thank you dear, now go help Kawarama before he destroys the patio, please."

Tobirama chuckled as he made his way past her and outside, helping his youngest brother with the set up. Hashirama was further out in the yard, watching over the crew setting up the small stage and entertainment equipment.

By noon everything was set and ready, and by some unknown cue, guests began to arrive. Hashirama and Mito stood by the entrance, welcoming their guests. Tobirama set down the last stack of plates by the buffet table and observed the invitees; he counted a few cousins, and many close friends, almost everyone from the Clans were here.

He recognized Nara Shikaku with his wife and son, followed closely behind were the Yamanaka's and Akimichi's; he recognized their son and daughter. Then came the Uchiha's, the Inuzuka's and the Hyuuga's. The Aburame's, the Sarutobi's. He bowed his head in greeting when Hiruzen's eye caught his.

And then another Uchiha family came in, the main one, because he recognized Fugaku and Itachi. It peaked his interest slightly that the second son, who Izuna slightly feared, who offered him food as an apology the other night, was missing. But it all became clear when Sasuke strolled in a bit after, followed by Naruto and his family.

"Tobirama!" Tsunade dropped her hand on his shoulder and gave a firm squeeze to draw his attention. He quickly turned his head, catching the Uzumaki couple in his periphory, "Let me guess, you're looking for the sake?"

Tsunade's grin was cheshire, "Yeah, it makes the entertainment that much better."

x

 **Author's Note:** If you're up here in the great white north, Canada, happy thanksgiving to everyone! (It's on Monday).


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Sakura pulled up her metaphorical big girl pants. She would deal with it when the time came. But she hoped that it wouldn't come today. Not in front of everybody she knew.

Sasuke excused himself from his family outside the Senju residence to join her and Naruto, waiting further in the back. She gave him a hug when he approached at gave his attire a nod of approval. Her boys certainly cleaned up nice. Mikoto definitely had a hand in helping though.

They entered just behind Naruto's parents and she was quick to bow respectfully to Mito and Hashirama. "Happy birthday, Mito-san," Sakura congratulated the older woman. The woman smiled and pulled the pinkette into a hug. Mito gave Sakura an approving nod, she wasn't dressed to impress, but she was certainly beautiful regardless of what she wore.

"The refreshments are over that way," she waved her hand in the general direction of the house, "But Tobirama is there right now, so maybe have the boys go for you." Sakura nodded in thanks. Hashirama pulled her into a quick hug next, he lowered his head to whisper into her ear, "If you need a place to hid, near the stage would be your best bet." Sakura nodded again before one of the boys tugged her away to find their other friends.

Sakura tried her best to pay attention to only what was in front of her. She was superstitious enough to believe that thinking too much about a certain thing, would certainly make it happen.

She greeted her girl friends and bowed respectfully to their parents before being joined by the other guys in their group. She took a drink from a passing server and chatted amicably with Neji and Shikamaru about brain games and the newest developments they were in charge of at work.

Chouji appeared a moment later at her side, a plate of food in one hand, a cookie feeding his mouth in the other hand. He offered the plate to his friends, "These are delicious." No sooner had the words spilled from his mouth, she heard Ino's voice beyond the Akimichi, "Oh, Kawarama-san! Are you done helping Mito-san set up?"

Sakura froze momentarily and Shikamaru slid his glance towards his friends before Chouji bumped her shoulder gently with his and offered her cookie. She looked up at him and he winked at her. Sakura blinked and realized that Chouji stood between her and Kawarama, completely blocking her from his view. She let out a slow breathe, before reaching for a cookie.

"Yeah, Mito says anymore help would do more harm than good, so she sent me on my merry way. So, where's this pretty lady friend of yours?" Kawarama made of show of looking for her.

Ino giggled, "Who knows, she's a rather social sprite, she could be anywhere." Kawarama nodded and smiled boyishly before bidding their group farewell and going over to talk to his cousins.

Crisis averted, for now.

An hour or so into the celebration, Hashirama strode up to the stage and stood center with a microphone in his hands. His presence alone made everyone quiet down and pay attention. "Good afternoon friends and family, thank you for joining us here today to celebrate the birthday of my beloved wife, Mito," Hashirama began his speech, recounting many fond and embarrassing memories they shared together as husband and wife.

He closed the speech a few minutes later, encouraging everyone to mingle and celebrate to their hearts content. "The dance floor will now open!" he announced as he placed the mic back on the stand and left the stage, only to walk over to his wife and draw her to the center of the dance floor. On cue, a ballad played through the speakers, and the married couple bowed to each other before beginning their dance.

Many looked on in awe and wonder. It was clear as day how utterly in love the pair were. After the first song played, more couples joined the floor. Some romantic pairings, some just friends who wanted to dance together.

Sakura stood off to the side, under the shade of the trees as she watched a few of her friends dance. She smiled to herself as her friends enjoyed themselves. "Not joining in?" a smooth voice next to her asked politely. Sakura jumped a little, not expecting to be addressed so soon. She dared a glance in the direction of the voice and visibly relaxed when she saw it was Itachi. She was tempted to pout, "Don't scare me like that Itachi-nii!"

Itachi chuckled quietly, "Hiding from someone?" The young woman narrowed her eyes, "And if I was?" Itachi smiled before patting her head, "Worry not, I won't sell you out."

Sakura made a noise of consideration before looking back at the crowd as the music changed to something more pop, the older generations left the dance floor for refreshments while the younger crowds stuck around and even some of the children began to dance.

"How is Izumi-san?" Sakura asked, last they met, Uchiha Izumi was visibly pregnant. The older man's eyes travelled beyond the dance floor at his wife listing things off for Shisui to get from the buffet. He chuckled quietly to himself, "She is well. She is almost at the end of her last term." Sakura followed his gaze and saw Izumi and Shisui. "I'm sure parenthood will come easily and naturally to you both, after all, Shisui is much like a child in many ways."

Itachi dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"So I have heard from Sasuke about your new assignemnt. How are you faring?" He glanced down at her sideways, watching the emotions flicker through her eyes. They had served in the forces after their time in the academy and they had been assigned to the same squad a few times, mostly because she was an excellent doctor on and off the field.

She heaved a sigh and took a drink from her glass. "This is the most dangerous part of the assignment so far, senpai. I'm really hoping nothing happens today." Itachi nodded. "Have you thought of what to say should the worst case scenario happen?"

"Think he'll believe I'm a twin?"

From the shaking of his shoulders, she would have to guess 'no.'


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Tobirama eyed his cousin wryly as she filled her cup with more booze than juice. Deciding to turn a blind eye to this, he moved away from the refreshments table and stayed just out of reach of the crowds.

Soon enough though, one of his brothers came over and pulled at his arm, dragging him into the sea of familiar faces. Out of politeness he greeted everyone that said hello to him and made small talk here and there. There were a few people that he honestly needed to have a long chat with, but as he reminded himself he was at a social gathering and it was in fact his sister-in-law's birthday and not an office get-together, it would have to wait till Monday.

Even now his fingers itched to reach for his phone, to continue working away at his message inbox.

Itama ditched him at some point to talk to his own friends, leaving Tobirama alone. Luckily he wasn't on the dance floor, but he was pretty close. Suddenly he was pushed forward by someone and he quickly regained his footing. When he turned around, Shizune apologized and continued in her search for Tsunade. He nodded briefly before looking away and spotting a long mane of pink hair.

He was surprised, he didn't know a lot of people with pink hair. The only person he did know, said they would be unable to attend today's festivities. He stood still as he tried to get a better look at the person.

Long pink hair, green eyes, red...dress. The young lady was talking animatedly with Sasuke and Naruto.

Again he was suddenly shoved forward in their direction by the mass of people around him. One more bump, this time Konohamaru apologized in passing as he looked for Udon and Moegi, and he found himself in front of the woman.

Forest green eyes were wide as they caught sight of him. Naruto and Sasuke turned their heads when she stopped talking, and greeted the older Senju. "Tobi-ji, enjoying yourself?" Naruto asked as he raised his glass in cheer.

Tobirama nodded absentmindedly. This didn't go unnoticed by the Uchiha boy. Clearing his throat, Sasuke inclined his head towards her, "Tobirama-san, this is our friend and Naruto's adopted sister, Haruno Sakura."

Tobirama blinked. Sakura curtsied, "Hello Senju-san, my brother has spoken highly of you and your work ethic."

His mind was absolutely blanking, not a single coherent thought was forming, except, "You're twins?"

Sakura smiled shyly and nodded, "Just when you think one person with natural pink hair wasn't possible, turns out there's actually two. We've thrown people for a loop our entire lives, I must admit." The Senju nodded slowly.

Sakuya had never mentioned having a sister, but then again, it's not like Tobirama had ever asked.

Sasuke and Naruto were called away by the other men in their group and the blond merrily went towards them. Sasuke lingered for a moment longer and gave his friend a sideways look. Sakura simply smiled and gave his hand a squeeze, "Keep them out of trouble please."

Now it was just Tobirama and her.

"Do you also work at Konoha?" he asked out of curiosity, everybody in town basically worked for Konoha in some capacity or other.

Sakura shook her head, "No, actually... I work for the military as a field doctor. I get sent out quite often, so I'm never really around."

Tobirama nodded, as he glanced around, "Are you... enjoying yourself today?" She smiled and chuckled lightly, "Oh yes, it's been a while since I've seen everyone I know all gathered in one place. It makes catching up a lot easier I suppose."

"Then," the Senju noted, "Perhaps I should not keep you from your friends."

An erruption of noise off to the side caught their attention. Tobirama looked up to see Naruto being held back up Chouji, his fists in the air shaking at the pale boy safely out of reach. If Tobirama recalled correctly, the young man worked in Marketing as a designer. He couldn't quite recall the name though.

Sakura looked over uncertainly, "Perhaps it can wait," she turned back to smile at him.

Tobirama rather liked her smile.

He mentally shook his head not a moment sooner, this woman was his employee's sister. It wasn't right.

Mito made her way over to them and gave them a wide smile, "Sakura-chan! Tobirama! I see you two have finally met!" She gave the girl a quick wink. "Why are you two just standing around here talking, we're so close to the dance floor!" she grabbed Tobirama's wrist in one hand and Sakura's in the other.

"Go have fun and dance with the young lady, Tobi!" and pulled them to the dance floor and pushing them closer together. Mito twirled her hand in the air, and as if by cue, the music changed. "Go on!" she gave Sakura another small push, and the pinkette stumbled straight into Tobirama's chest.

He caught her by the arms and then held her a more appropriate distance apart, "Well, since Mito insists, we most likely will not get out of this. Would you care for a quick dance with me? I promise not to step on your feet."

Something in his smile must have won her over because she chuckled again and took his hand, "I'm sorry I can't promise the same for you though, but I am better than Naruto if it helps."

And then they danced as one.

x

 **Author's Note:** Zero edits, sorry. Been neglecting on fanfic writing, especially this one and Stay Human. I guess it's because I've been away for so long from both stories, I don't really know where to go. But I will try to get back into it. The plot bunnies won't stop multiplying however.

Hope everyone had a good new year's. I had a good break but life goes on and my real life job resumes. Updates are going to be sparse.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

She was pulling a Sai. She knew it, Sai knew it, Sasuke knew it. Everyone in the dang vicinity knew it except the man spinning around with her on the dance floor. Her own boss. Potentially more oblivious and obtuse than the King of Dense himself, Naruto. Maybe it ran in the family and skipped a few lines, who knows.

And she damn well knew she was pulling a Sai the moment her face gave a pleasant, charming smile automatically, but it was like world war four inside her own body. Yes, Tobirama was indeed a handsome man, and if she were drunk, her inner self would deem him a delicious specimen of the species. But seriously, _down girl_. And stay down.

Ugh, it was almost unfair how tall he was. His muscles of obviously there despite the casual suit he was wearing. She almost wanted to hate Mito for pushing them together to dance, where Sakura's arms were, per requirement of dancing and basic decorum, around the Senju's shoulders.

Did she mention this man was her boss and therefore off-limits? Not that her mind, heart or any other organ was listening. Absolute betrayal. Absolute.

Tobirama stepped away and twirled her before pulling her back into his arms and she clamped down on that breathy sigh that wanted to make it's way out of her mouth. _Oh hell, no_.

She wanted this dance to end. She wanted to run. She wanted out of there faster than that fairytale princess with the pumpkin carriage, and she didn't even have a time limit of midnight!

But his eyes were such a beautiful shade of red, and it held such depth, and the way he was looking at her...

Sakura smacked her mindscape into sensibility. By all means, this party was technically a war zone and they were on a mission. She tries to remind herself, specifically labelled Operation: do not blow your cover.

But Tobirama was an excellent dancer and had yet to step on her feet, nor allowed himself to be stepped on by her feet. She was having immense fun and was enjoying every moment of it. While also freaking out inside at every moment of it. Hence pulling a Sai.

Someone else must have recognized her Sai-vibes cause said someone tapped Tobirama on the shoulder and they came to a brief halt on the dance floor. "May I have a dance with this lovely young lady?" Neji Hyuuga bowed respectfully to the both of them.

Tobirama dipped his head towards her, the choice clearly hers to make. It was getting harder and harder to not fall for this man and his charms. Quickly coming to a decision, but not to seem rude, she curtsied to the Senju, "Thank you for dancing with me, I'm sure we managed to entertain Mito-san's whims long enough."

Tobirama nodded, "That we might have," he spotted her off to one end of the yard, entertaining the children. "Enjoy yourselves," he motioned Neji towards Sakura and then made his way off the dance floor. When Tobirama was out of sight, Neji brought Sakura closer and began an easy sway to match the new song. Sakura leaned her forehead on his shoulder and let out a heavy sigh and missed his smirk.

"I heard that Neji, you must find this extremely amusing," Sakura huffed as they continued an easy dance.

The Hyuuga raised an eyebrow and looked down at his friend skeptically, "How do you hear a smile?"

Sakura lifted her head as she huffed, "For you it's technically a smirk, and yes I can hear it cause I just can." The skeptical eyebrow remain raised, "How conclusive."

Sakura punched him lightly in the chest, "Shush you, if you weren't my almost knight in shining armour, I'd give you hell."

Neji made a contemplative hum, "Would I be your knight in shining armour if we danced our way to the other side away from an overly eager Lee?" Sakura chuckled, at parties like this, Lee was always eager to dance either with groups or all the girl friends. But sometimes, he didn't know his own strength or enthusiasm.

"You can have that title if we dance our way over to the seating area and I can finally take off these heels," she offered. "Done deal," Neji began to effortlessly dance their way towards such goal.

Neji, being the gentlemen that he was, escorted her to an almost full table, with Hinata and the other girls already seated and waiting for her. She gave her friend a sideways glance, "I take it back, you're throwing me to the wolves, deal's off." Neji merely chuckled as he made his exit. Ino grabbed Sakura's wrist and tugged her into the remaining seat.

There was no chance of escape now. Sakura slipped off her heels and relished in the freedom and feel of grass under her toes. Hinata pushed a plate of food towards the pinkette, who was forever grateful for having a wonderful friend like Hinata.

Sakura took her time snacking and drinking while her friends chattered idly. The moment the plate was empty, TenTen and Ino turned to her expectantly. "What?" Sakura mumbled, her mouth half full.

Ino rewarded the pinkette's efforts with an eye roll, "Spill, woman. We want all the details!"

"What details, Inopig," she hadn't used that nickname in a while, "We 'met', we danced, we parted. You probably saw it all happen too." The blond wanted to smack some sense into her friend, she was missing the point, and purposely too.

"I think what Ino means is, how is Tobirama-sama from 'Sakura's' point of view, not 'Sakuya's'" TenTen watched her friend closely.

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip as she fingered the glass in her hands. She didn't know what to say, but her friend's knowing looks already told her what she couldn't say herself. Her face almost matched the colour of her hair.

She was so screwed.


End file.
